Step by Step
by TheHauntedKeyboard
Summary: Talin and Saber are two hopeful candidates taking the Hunter X Hunter exam. They knew it would be hard, they knew the risks, but what they didn't expect was to meet four very strange people (and one psychotic clown) who would turn their lives upside down. OC x Kurapika ON HIATUS
1. Running, running, and more running

I lean against the wall, sketching. It was great really, never had I seen such a strange group of people all together before. I wanted to get it all down on paper as fast as I could. Beside me my friend Saber was fiddling with some machine in his hands, as always. We were both slouched in the corner of the large room, totally out of our comfort zone. When we first entered we were greeted by glares from the rest of the candidates, and we both quickly scurried to get out of the way. The whole thing was pretty intimidating, especially since some of the people here didn't even look human!

So I did what I always do when I'm stressed, I drew. Right now I was trying to get the shape of this one girls hat correctly, it kind of looked like a mushroom and was yellow, and the girl had turquois hair if you could believe it. I was relieved to find another girl taking the exam, from what I could see so far there was only maybe two or three more. Well, I couldn't be sure since some of the contestants were just so weird looking I couldn't really tell their gender… like what was up with that guy with all the pins in him?! What was this, Frankenstein?!

"I hate clowns." I mumble under my breath as my eyes travel around the crowd, landing on the tall red head clown guy. He was just plain creepy.

"Join the club." Saber mutters beside me, looking up from his tinkering. We both silently stare at the crowd, a growing sense of unease settling on us.

"We're surrounded by freaks." We both say at the same time.

**oOoOo**

Thirty minutes or so goes by, and I was nearly done drawing my picture. Saber had given up on tinkering for now and was trying to find a comfortable position to take a short nap, which was kind of hard seeing as he was trying to huddle on the cold hard cement floor.

A sound echo's through the room and at the same time as everyone else I raise my eyes to the elevator doors as they open. They open to reveal to my surprise, a young looking kid in green with a… fishing pole?! Behind him was a boy…(I think) who looked maybe just a little older than me with blond hair wearing a strange blue cloth over his clothes, and a tall man with a suitcase and a business suit on. They step out of the elevator, the businessman looking suspiciously around at the crowd, and the blond boy warily gazed at us. The little kid in green just looked curious.

Soon enough that annoying guy from before walks over to them. Saber and I share a look. That was the same guy from before who had offered us juice. We had both politely declined, because hey, it was the hunter exams, what's to say that the juice wasn't spiked or something? Only an idiot would take it. And for some very, very strange reason, every time I looked at the guy, I felt like I knew him. No idea why.

I sigh as I watch the three take the drinks from him. For their sakes I hope it really was just juice, even if I didn't know them I couldn't help but worry for the kid. Ah, there I go again. Sometimes I was just too nice for my own good, they weren't my problem.

But to my surprise the kid suddenly spits out his drink, startling Tonpa. I raise an eyebrow. I couldn't hear what they were saying from here but I notice the other two follow the kid's example, as the tall guy spits out his drink too and the blond one just calmly pours it on to the floor.

Quietly I return to my sketchbook, quickly starting to sketch an outline of the three to add to the picture. They seemed interesting.

The minutes tick by; the only sound between me and my friend is the gentle scratch of pencil on paper and Saber's snoring. I had to keep nudging him since he kept leaning on my shoulder, until I eventually gave up and let him use me as a pillow. Annoying gear head.

But the peace and quiet is suddenly disturbed as a horrifying scream rips through the air. Saber instantly bolts awake, slamming his head into the wall behind him. I can hear him muttering curses as he clutches his head but I ignore him, staring in horror at the scene before us. I couldn't tell what was going on at first, but the corwd parts and I soon wish it hadn't as I get a good view of a guy in pain. His arms were… turning into…petals?!

Saber stops cursing as he also catches glance of the guy.

"Ah, how strange his arms turned into petals." The clown freak says, calmly watching the poor man squirm in pain. "You should be careful, it's polite to apologize when you bump into someone."

Saber and I glance at each other, both of us sharing the same horrified expression.

My eyes trailing back to the clown guy who had a large sadistic grin on his face, a chill running down my spine. What the actual hell?!

Things to return to normal, well as normal as they can, after a few minutes and I return to my drawing, and Saber returns to busying himself with his tools and gadgets. He had a black belt with pockets full of little bit of machinery which he used to make whatever he felt like. Right now he was trying to fix a broken radio. After what we both just witnessed I was guessing he probably didn't feel very sleepy.

"Cool!"

Startled I glance up from my sketchbook, and Leo nearly drops the radio. In front of us is the green kid from before.

"That's me!" He points enthusiastically at my sketchbook where I was just finishing up the final touches. I had drawn as much of the crowd as I could, including those three, I had even added colour.

Busted.

I sheepishly nod my head. "Yah, I'm drawing the whole crowd…"

But the kid didn't look mad at being drawn, rather he looked excited. "It's so good! Can I get a better look?"

Surprised I nod, and hand over the sketch book where he excitedly stares at the page, his smile growing wider. Suddenly he turns around and yells to his two friends.

"Kurapika! Leorio! Come see this!"

"Uh…" I nervously watch as the two come over to us, confusion on their faces as the kid excitedly waves the sketchbook at them. They were numbered from 403, to 404, and 405. I was number 387, and Saber was 388. The only reason we had made it here was because we had randomly spotted these three big guys choking this poor kid. Of course we ran in to help, but turns out that the four were actually part of the hunter exam, and they were doing tests to see who would make good candidates for the hunter exam. We were lucky, the only reason we had gone down that path was because we had gotten lost…I'm really bad at reading maps…anyways they had brought us to this weird restaurant and voilo! We had made it.

"Look at what she drew, it's so good!" Gon exclaims.

…Awww…I like this kid.

"Woah, you drew this?" Leorio says, eyes widening as he stares at the paper. "It looks almost like a photograph!"

My cheeks are slowly turning red, not used to so much praise. "Um…"

"It is rather well drawn." Kurapika comments. I smile embarrassed and turn away, I'm not very good at taking compliments. But at least now I knew that he was definitely a guy from his voice.

Gon turns to me. "Hey, hey can you draw me a picture sometime?"

I blink in surprise. "Uh, sure."

He cheers. "Thanks! My name is Gon by the way."

I was warming up to him. It was kind of hard to tell why but this kid was just so damn likable. "I'm Talin, and mr. gear head over here is Saber." I introduce, pointing a thumb at Saber who until now had just been observing the conversation.

"Yo." He waves a hand in greeting, and Gon just smiles wider.

"What are you making?" He asks.

Saber gets a giant grin on his face and I roll my eyes, I knew that look. "A radio! I'm trying to fix it since some of it's part are broken, but I don't have the correct parts. But I can easily make them just by…" And he soon started rattling off about machine parts and different types of metal and blah blah blah. I raise an eyebrow as poor Gon's face. I could tell he was trying to keep up with what Saber was saying but I could practically see steam coming out of his ears as he brain started to fry. Both Kurapika and Leorio just stared at Saber confusion on their face.

After letting him babble for a minute, I quickly raise my sketchbook and hit him in the head with it.

"Hey!"

"You're doing that thing where you don't speak English." I calmly explain, resting my chin in my hand.

This time it's Saber's turn to roll his eyes. But before he can spit out a retort a strange screeching noise fills the room. We all turn to the back of the room where one of the walls was starting to go up, revealing a man. A really weird man. He had pink hair, and a mustache, and…

"Uh…does that guy not have a mouth?!" Saber whispers to me, and I shrug, just as confused as he was.

"I apologize for the long wait, as of now the entry period for candidates has ended. We will now begin the hunter exam!" He announces, and everyone tenses up. "A final warning, those who are low on luck or ability could easily end up injured or even dead over the course of the exam. Those who are willing to take the risks, please follow me. Anyone else can leave via the elevator." And with that said he turns around and starts to walk off. He was talking so he did have a mouth…right? 

Quickly I grab my sketchbook and pencil case and stuff the things into my dark blue messenger bag. Quickly slipping the thing over my shoulder I join the others and we start to follow the weird guy into the tunnel. No one had gone back to the elevator.

"This is going to end well." I mutter sarcastically.

**oOoO**

FUCK. I know the exam was going to be hard but…just fuck! We had already been running for what felt like hours and I just really felt like collapsing. Either that or strangling someone.

I knew Saber felt the same way as me as we both try to keep pace with the others. We were both good runners, and we hadn't fallen behind yet, but still I really wasn't prepared for this. Ugh. We didn't know much, beside what the examiner had told us, which was that his name was Satotz and that he was leading us to the second round of the exam. Which meant that this was the first.

I kept my eyes trained on the crowd in front, making sure not to slow down. I knew that if I stopped I probably wouldn't be able to start again. I had a long, dark blue cardigan with no buttons, which was tied around my waist. I was wearing a light blue tang top, and black cargo pants, paired with green sneakers. While Saber was wearing a jean vest, unbuttoned on top of a red t-shirt, and had a pair of jeans on. He had red sneakers., and of course his black tool belt. I had lost track of where the new guys we met had gone, but I guessed they would be okay. I hope. All I knew was that I was getting sick of this stupid tunnel.

It also sucked that we didn't know how far we had to run. For all we knew it could be days until we reached the end, and I knew I would definitely fail if that happened. And I was actually bored out of my mind! I couldn't even chatter with Saber to keep the boredom at bay since we both didn't have the energy to waste on idle chatter. I was wondering if I should leave my bag behind…but I don't think I could part with it. The contents of the bag, and the bag itself had been with me for a couple of years and were actually a precious gift. No way could I leave them behind.

I glance around tiredly, and I spot someone in near the front of the crowd. Oh, it was that white haired kid. His name was…Killua I think? He was running besides Gon, his hands on his skateboard. I couldn't help but smile; at least Gon had found someone his own age, that was nice. When we first met him I couldn't help but share Leorio's annoyance at the kid on the skateboard. I wish I had had a skateboard! But after learning Gon' age the kid had decided to run too, maybe he wasn't so bad.

Not much had happened since then, besides finding out that Leorio was 19. That little bit of news had been pretty shocking, and Leorio did not seem very happy with me when I had yelled "NO WAY!" in surprise. But come on, the guy did not look like he was 19! He looked like an adult!

**OoOoO**

Another hour goes by, and I felt like my legs were about to fall off. Leo wasn't doing much better, I could hear him breathing raggedly behind me. We were both starting to fall back and I couldn't help the anger and despair inside me. Dammit, were we already going to fail? Wow, we couldn't even pass the first test. Pathetic. How the hell were we supposed to even look Jett in the eyes if we couldn't even make it that far?

I'm suddenly snapped out of my depressing thoughts when I hear a strange noise coming behind me. And it was getting louder.

"**RRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!"**

I couldn't help but let out a shriek of fear when I see something rush right between Saber and me, nearly barreling us over. Both Saber and I stare in shock, our eyes wide as we watch Leorio of all people barreling through the crowd.

"I WONT GIVE UP! I'M GOING TO BECOME A HUNTER!"

Saber and I look over at each other, and we both smirk.

"If Leorio won't lose…" Saber starts to say.

"Then we won't either!" I finish, and with that said we both start to run fast. Adrenaline rushing though my veins I follow Leorio's example and we both rush past the other contestants, screaming.

"WHHHOOOOOOO!"

In the corner of my eye I see a flash of blonde and blue as we rush past Kurapika who is staring at us, eyes wide. I flash him a smirk as we pass him.

"See ya at the finish line blondie!"


	2. I Hate Clowns

Ok I have to be honest. Those stairs through me for a loop, I mean seriously adding stairs was just cruel. But we did it. When I had first seen the light at the end of the tunnel I had actually thought for a second that I was dying or something, but Leo shrieking in delight beside me had snapped me out of it. A giant smile adorns my face when I realize that what I'm actually staring at is the exit. Both Saber and I cry out in relief as we rush through the doorway our arms thrown into the air.

"WE DID IT!" We scream, and abruptly collapse onto the ground. I know that a bunch of the contestants were staring at us but I didn't care. The ground felt so nice… like I could just curl up and sleep forever on the nice soft grass….wait, what?

My eyes snap open, only for me to quickly close the again. "Bright!" I yell out, covering my eyes.

Squinting I slowly sit up, my body screaming in protest but I ignore it. I look around, we were outside, but I didn't recognize where we were. It looked kind of like a forest or swamp or something but there was fog everywhere so it was hard to tell.

"Talin! Saber!" I hear an excited voice say and I turn around, just to see Gon and Killua walk over to us. For some reason Gon had Leorio's briefcase, guess he was holding it on for him.

"You made it!" Gon exclaims happily, while Killua looks at us, surprise on his face.

"Wow, I didn't think you guys could do it."

"Hey!" At this Saber gets on his feet, pointing an angry finger at Killua. The two starts to argue but I ignore them, instead I get up and smile at Gon.

"Yah, and so did you guys that's good. When did you get here?"

"Hmm…" He puts a finger on his chin as he thinks. "Well Killua and I tried to have a contest about who would get here first and we both got here around the same time as Satotz, who says we both made it at the same time, though I still think I beat him!"

"Wha-" Killua ignores Saber who continues to rant at him, instead choosing to turn to Gon. "No way! I totally beat you!"

I stare in shock as the two boys argue, while Saber gives up in scolding at Killua and resigns himself to glaring. They made it at the same time that the examiner did? Are you freaking kidding me?

"…Monsters I tell you…you're all monsters." I mutter darkly.

They stop arguing when a shirtless and tired looking Leorio, and Kurapika show up, Kurapika had taken off his blue cloth thingy, and had on his white shirt and pants. He has a grey bag around his shoulder.

"Yes, we all did it!" Gon cheers as he excitedly runs up to two, who smile tiredly at him.

"Hey." Kurapika waves a hand. "Is this our destination?"

"No, it isn't." Gon answers, still smiling.

Huh? How did he know that? Geez, weird kid.

"I see." Kurapika says looking around, while Gon hands Leorio his briefcase, who quickly thanks him.

I decide to walk over and greet them. "Nice job, though…" I stare at Leorio curiously, who was only wearing his pants, shoes, and tie. His coat and shirt were tied around his waist.

He chuckles. "I realized I could pass, as long as I stopped worrying about how stupid I looked."

"…Oh…"

"And what the heck happened to you during the exam, you know you nearly crashed into us." Leo says, joining the conversation.

Gon laughs, and Leorio smiles tiedly. "Heh, sorry 'bout that."

"No worries." I smile. "You're determination actually helped us get to the finish line, thanks." Leo nods, a smile also on his face.

Leorio suddenly seems to get all shy, his face blushing a bit as he turns away scratching at his cheek. "Eh it's okay you don't have to thank me…"

I turn to Kurapika. "Nice to see you didn't fail blond boy."

He raises an eyebrow. "It's Kurapika."

"Whatever you say, blondie." I smile cheekily at the annoyed look he gives me.

"Oh, the fog is fading." Kurapika suddenly says, and I turn around to check and he was right.

Everyone quiets down when the examiner starts to speak. "The Numere Wetlands also known as Swindlers Swamp. We must cross these wetlands to reach Phase Two of the exam."

You have got to be kidding. We have to run? Again? In a fucking swamp?

"This place is home to many bizarre animals, many of them home to cunning, insatiable creatures who deceive humans and prey upon them."

This just kept getting better and better.

"Be very careful." He warns. "If you let them fool you…you're dead."

Right when he's finished saying that disturbing bit of info, the doors suddenly start to close. A guy who is crawling up the steps starts to panic.

"Wait! Wait for me!"

The doors shut mercilessly. I flinch, that's just harsh.

"These wetland creatures will use every trick in the book to fool their prey." The examiner continues. "An ecosystem in which creatures obtain food through deceit…hence the name swindlers swamp. Stay very close to me so you wont be deceived." He turns around and looks like he's about to start walking again.

Leorio scoffs. "Heh, what a joke, how can they fool us when we're expecting it?"

"Don't let them fool you!" Someone suddenly yells.

Leorio rolls his eyes. "I just said they c-" He stops staring in surprise.

Confused, we all turn in the direction of where the voice came from. Leaning against the door is a guy who doesn't look like he's in the best shape. "D-don't fall for it! He's lying to you! He's an imposter! He's not an examiner, I'm the real examiner!"

"…Say what?" I mutter as everyone starts whispering in confusion.

"An imposter?" Leorio says, turning to look at Satotz. "What's going on?"

"Then who is he?" A bald guy from the crowd asks.

"Look at this!" The beaten up guys suddenly drags something from around the corner of the building. It's a… a monkey with satotz face?!

Gon gasps. "He looks just like Satotz-san!"

"And I thought things couldn't get weirder…" Saber mutters next to me, staring bewildered at the monkey-person-thing.

"It's a man-faced ape, one of the creatures dwell in the wetlands!"

"A man-faced ape?" Leorio says in confusion. I couldn't blame him. If anyone knew what was going on, well, well for them 'cus I certainly didn't.

And this whole time Kurapika was just watching calmly. Seriously, does _nothing _shake this guy?! Damn he had a good poker face…note to self never play poker with blondie…

"Man-faced monkeys love the taste of human flesh." Beaten up guy explains. "However, their limbs are long and thing so they're quite weak."

"…Huh…?" I mumble to myself, and Saber glances over. "If they're limbs are weak then there's no way Satotz is an imposter…"

Saber's eyes widen in realization. If he was really a human-faced-monkey thingy than there would be no way he could have ran that whole way!

"That's why they disguise themselves as humans." Beat up guy continues talking. "They trick humans into following them into these wetlands, where they team up with other animals to kill and devour them!" He points dramatically at Satotz. "He intends to trap every single applicant!"

"Bastard…" I turn around, to see Leorio glaring at Satotz. I sweat drop, he didn't really believe him, did he?

"He certainly doesn't walk like a human…" Bald guy from crowd says. Well, I did have to give him that. That guy did walk super weirdly. And he also didn't have a mouth… he wasn't a human-face-monkey-thingy, but maybe he really wasn't human…

I'm snapped out of my thoughts-dang, I really have to stop zoning out- when the beaten up guys suddenly falls to the ground, dead. Three playing cars stabbed into him.

I turn in shock, just in time to see Satotz catch some playing cars between his fingers before they stab into him.

"Huh?" Leorio, Saber, and I all say at the same time. What the actual fuck is going on?!

I hear a strange shuffling noise and turn to look at…oh. Of course. It's the clown creep's fault. OF COURSE IT IS. Knew that guys was bad news…

He laughs. "I see, I see…that settles it, you're the real one."

Both Saber and I jump, startled, when the monkey thing which was supposedly dead suddenly gets up and runs back into the forest making panicked noises.

"Examiners are hunters," Creepy clown guys explains. "Selected by the committee to perform this duty without pay. Any hunter bearing the title we seek, would have been able to block that attack."

"I shall take that as a compliment." Satotz replies, pretty camly for a guy who nearly got killed via playing card. "However, should you attack me again, for any reason, I will report you for taking on a examiner and you will immediately be disqualified."

Leorio scoffs. "Not like it's his first time."

I glance back at him as the two talk. "What do you mean?" I whisper.

"This guy named Tonpa told us that last year he was definitely going to be a hunter, but nearly killed an examiner just because he didn't like him. He immediately got disqualified." He glances down at me, a uncommonly serious expression on his face.

I gap in horror while Saber's eyes widen.

"What? And they let him back?!" He angrily whispers.

Kurapika hums in agreement. "It would be best to stay away from him."

"Well no shit!" I say sarcastically, making blondie send me an annoyed look. Again. Seriously, sometimes I just couldn't stop my mouth. 

A bunch of ugly giant birds start to peck at the guy's body and I cringe in disgust.

"Nature can be really brutal to watch…" Leorio comments.

"So he was a man-faced ape as well." Kurapika nods.

"He was attempting to confuse the applicants, to lure some away." Satotz says.

"We cannot relax our guard." Killua mutters, and Gon nods.

"Yeah."

Satotz explains to us that we will face deception many times if we choose this life style. He says that he guessed a number of us were nearly fooled, at this Leorio chuckled nervously and rubs his head.

After giving us another scary and depressing warning about getting lost in the wetlands, he turns and starts walking.

**oOoOo**

I try to ignore the dampness in my shoes as I run, it was way harder running in slimy, wet mush than on cement ground. I don't really know how long we had been running for, all I knew was that I would _kill _for a shower right now!

"Tsk, another marathon!" Leorio grumbles. Kurapika and Leorio are on my left while Saber is on my right, Killua and Gon are somewhere near the front.

"My feet are going to fall off…" Saber complains.

"And we're running through marsh this time, running on wet ground requires more energy." Kurapika adds.

I groan, and keep running.

**oOoOo**

There was forest all around us and I swear I could feel something watching me… well obviously they're were other contestants but I mean I could feel like they're were things watching us from the forest. Creepy. And I couldn't even check because I swear this stupid fog was getting even thicker! What was this, a horror movie?!

"The fog is getting thicker." Kurapika suddenly says, as if he could read my thoughts. Horror movie, I tell ya.

I bite my lip nervously looking around, and suddenly I hear Gon's voice through the mist. "Leorio! Kurapika! Talin! Saber! Killua says we should move up!"

"Moron!" Leorio yells back, in the general direction since we could hardly see five feet in front of us. "If I had the strength I'd already be there!"

"Why does he want us to go in front?" Saber huffs out.

I shrug, not wanting to waste energy on words. I really hated this.

"Don't worry about us!" Kurapika calls out.

But as the fog get's even thicker I start to think that maybe we should worry. It was probably just the creepy setting or whatever but I was starting to get a feeling that something very b-

SHIT! WHERE THE HELL ARE THE OTHERS?!

I swivel my head left and right but I can't see anyone, I can feel myself start to panic. I breathe deeply in and out, trying to calm myself. It's okay, it's just a little fog, it's oka-

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Suddenly I hear screaming coming from all around me. Well, there goes not panicking.

"SSSSHIIIIITTT!" I scream as I run through the fog blindly, hoping that I won't die. I had no idea what direction I was going in, I was just trying to go _away. _

I really hope the others were alright.

**BAM!**

I crash face forwards into something and fall on to my back, instantly getting water and mud on my clothes. My eyes widen and my blood runs cold, what did I hit? Was this the end?

I stare in horror at the tall shape in front of me, it was…it was…

…A tree?

I don't know whether to laugh hysterically or cry, I just smashed face forwards into a fucking tree. Which hurt by the way. I rub my noise as I quickly get up and take off again, this time putting out a hand blindly.

A couple minutes go bye and I'm really starting to get scared. Was I really going to die in this stupid swamp?

"Be quick and follow me! Right this way!" I suddenly hear the examiners voice call out in front of me.

Nearly cheering with relief I start to run forwards, and I can see a _very _faint outline of people in front of me. Yes! I found the group! 

Suddenly the people in front disappear, and I hear them scream before they suddenly and abruptly stop.

"Wha-?!" I stop dead in my tracks and stare in horror and what I almost ran into. There was a giant hole with spike on the bottom, and above it flying around was a black bird.

"Follow me!" It shrieks.

No way, it could imitate human speech?! 

"Close call." I hear someone mutter, and I turn to my left, and nearly jump when I realize that three contestants, brothers I think, were only a few feet away from me.

One of them looks over and spots me, giving me a hard look. I sheepishly raise a hand and start to inch away, making sure I don't fall in the stinking hole.

After I run away from the terrifying trio, I try to follow where I think the group would have gone. Which is pretty stupid since I really had no idea but what else was I supposed to do? Just standing there would be a death sentence. I kept hearing disturbing sounds, probably made by whatever hell spawn was lurking around me.

But I hear something a little different to my left, voices? Human voices? I stop. Should I go towards them? It could be the group…but it could also be another one of those ravens…

"LEORIO!"

Wait?! Was that Kurapika's voice?! Praying that it wasn't a stupid raven I take off in the general direction. I hope I won't be too late.

I run as fast as I can, which isn't really that fast since I was dead tired but…I reach a clearing and stare in horror. It was the clown freak! AND HE WAS HOLDING GON BY THE NECK! And lying in the grass a few feet away was a beat up Leorio.

I had to do something, the kid looked like he was choking! But what? I had to come up with a plan…but I didn't have any time!

Acting on impulse I grab a rock off the ground and with all my might I whip it at the clown…and It lands harmlessly on the ground a few feet away from him. Wow, I need to work on my aim. He didn't even glance at it, too focused on Gon being in pain, freaking sadistic.

I can feel my blood boiling, I was so angry. The look on his face…he was enjoying Gon's pain!

"HEY! YOU ASSHOLE!" I roar, and finally Hisoka turn to me, and Gon opens an eyelid, staring at me in surprise.

"LET HIM GO YOU CLOWN FREAK!" I scream, marching into the clearing. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was pissed.

To my surprise he actually does, and Gon collapses on the ground, coughing. Poor kid. Hisoka starts to walk towards me slowly, a look of…curiosity on his face. Well shit.

"Stay back!" I yell, but I didn't sound very convincing.

Suddenly he disappears, no literally like he was there one second, and gone the next. What the he-?! I gasp when he suddenly appears _right in front of me. _My eyes widening I stumble back but I suddenly feel something sharp pressing against my neck, a playing card.

"Well, well, you have spunk."

I glare at him, feeling extremely uncomfortable at our close a proximity. I would rather be far, far away from him. Like, maybe a country away, or probably a couple just to be safe.

"Yah, and you have mental issues." I scoff back, probably wasn't very smart to insult him but… he tried to kill Gon! Not cool!

To my surprise he laughs. He had a very creepy laugh that made my skin crawl. "You are also unripe…but perhaps with time you can flourish…"

…Uh…say what now?

He smirks, and I glare at him, unnerved. What was this guy's problem?!

"Do not worry." He surprisingly says. "I shall not kill your friends. You all passed." He states as he turns around and walks towards Leorio.

A strange beeping sound coming from his pockets, and he takes out a radio. I can't hear what he says, only watch in horror as he lifts Leorio up and walks away, but not before saying something to Gon that I couldn't hear. I was frozen to the spot. My hand brushes my throat and I feel wetness, blood.

"GON! Are you all right?" I hear someone yell and I turn around, just to see Kurapika running towards us. Where the hell was he when we needed him?!

Oh. It had probably taken him a while to find us in this STUPID fog.

His shouting helps me snap out of it and I rush over to Gon, quickly neeling down. "Holy crap kid, are you okay?!"

He just kind of looks at me, panting. Oh shit, did he hit his head really hard or something?!

"Talin?" I hear Kurapika gasp in surprise.

I lift a hand wearily. "Hey. I heard shouting so…"

"Thanks." I hear Gon whisper, and I turn back to him. Poor guy looked really shaken.

I smile softly. "No worries, come on let's get out of this hell hole."

"But how can we find our way out?" Kurapika asks. Damn, good point, I had no idea where we were.

"I can lead us there." Gon says, suddenly standing up. I raise an eyebrow, but take his word for it and follow him into the woods.


	3. Carnivorous Pigs

"This way." Gon calls out before going left in the fork in the dirt road he had found, Kurapika and I chase after him. We had been following him for a while, and on the way they had explained to me how they had gotten into that whole mess. And when Gon had asked me how I had gotten that bruise on my noise, I had decided to leave out the whole smashing into a tree thing and had just said something vague about the fog and animals.

"You can really tell?" Kurapika asks Gon.

"Uh-huh." Gon 's cologne is very unique. I can smell him from a few kilometers away."

"What?" I glance at him, confused. I must have heard wrong "You can smell his cologne?!"

Even Kurapika makes a surprised noise. Hah! So he can be shaken! …Kinda.

"Yah, Hisoka said he would take him to round two. So I'm following the smell."

…This kid is like a blood hound…well at least Leorio would be okay…now I just hope that Saber made it.

"Hey…what did Hisoka mean when he said we passed?" Gon asks us.

I raise an eyebrow. "The guy is a sadistic lunatic who dresses up as a clown. Don't take anything he says to word."

"Hisoka was acting as a judge." Kurapika answers, all smart sounding.

"A judge?" Gon glances back at him.

"Yes, he must have his own benchmarks for evaluating power. It's possible that he was ascertaining each applicant's strength. Apparently you three met his standards."

I snort. "I doubt it, all I did was swear and him and run in screaming."

"Yah…that wasn't very smart." Gon mumbles.

My eye twitches. "Hey! I did it for you! I didn't have time to make a plan, all I saw was the asshole chocking you and I just went for it!"

"I agree with Gon, you're actions were very rash." Kurapika adds.

I grumble to myself and cross my arms. Fine! Next time they're in trouble I won't do anything! See if I care if they die!

"But thanks." Gon smiles at me, and I blink, feeling my cheeks grow warm.

I look away. "It's fine…"

I notice Kurapika smiling softly and I glare at him.

"But I doubt I reached his standards too. I was powerless to do anything against him." Gon continues.

"Didn't you land your first hit on him?" Kurapika asks.

"Only because I surprised him." Gon replies. "Besides, Leorio passed even though he lost…"

"I'm telling you, the guy is crazy." I shrug. "No point in trying to figure out a crazy persons actions."

"Hmm, perhaps he sensed that you were kindred spirits." Kurapika offers.

I don't even know what kindred means. Kind? What?

"Kindred spirits?" Repeats Gon.

"I seriously doubt that Hisoka could qualify as a Hunter." Kurapika answers. "However, I must admit that he did impress me with his superhuman agility and graceful technique."

That clown guy was _graceful_?! Excuse me?! I choose to remain silent though since blondie seems like he's on a roll. Also because I was getting really damn tired.

"It's quite common that those possessing special talents are drawn to others with unique gifts. Most likely, Hisoka's instincts and experience told him that you had the skill and potential to become hunters. Killing you now would have been a waste…that was his perspective."

"Wait…" I blurt out, disturbed. "So he's saving Gon…like a piece of meat or something?! Wow, that guy is…" I struggle to come up with a word that described how actually creepy as hell the whole thing was.

Kurapika glances at Gon, who is looking down at the ground and guilt crosses his face. "Oh, I'm sorry! Was that insensitive on my part?"

"No…" Gon answers. "But I was pretty excited, as well."

"Huh?" Both Kurapika and me say at the same time.

"I was so scared, I wanted to run away. But I couldn't. And at the same time, I was excited. Isn't that strange?" He glances at us, a wide smile on his face.

"Uh..yes, yes it is. Great. I'm surrounded by crazy people." I mutter, making Gon laugh. Kurapika stays silent.

Finally, _finally_, we reach the end of the path. A crowd of people were gathered in front of this giant stone wall with a large door, on either side of the door was two tall towers. Everyone looked exhausted. But we had no time to rest; we had to find the others!

I'm glancing all around, nervously biting my lip…where were they? Suddenly I hear Gon cry out.

"Leorio!"

I rush after him and I spot Leorio leaning against a tree, poor guy did not look good. Gon places his briefcase by his feet, which he had been holding on to.

"Man that stings." Leorio croaks out. "Why am I all beat up?"

The three of use exchange confused glances. Did he not…?

"My memory is kinda hazy…"

I hear Kurapika whispering something to Gon, but I'm too focused too hear him. Damn, poor Leorio, he's not going to like the truth. I guess I better get it over with, like a band aid.

"You got the crap be-" Suddenly Kurapika slams a hand over my mouth, shooting me a glare.

"MMMPPFF!" I protest the sudden lack of speech very aggressively, and tug at his hand. He leans down to whisper something into my ear, which made me feel suddenly very uncomfortable about our close proximity.

"We shouldn't tell him what happened. He won't take it well."

Ohhhh. I nod, and he let's go of me. Whew.

Leorio just stares at us in confusion. "What?"

But before we're forced to lie out of our asses we hear someone calling out.

"Gon!"

"Killua!"

I turn and face the white haired kid, wow; he didn't even have a scratch on him! Unlike that poor sab behind him…wait…

"SABER?!" I shriek and rush over. From a closer look I could see his clothes were all torn and he was completely scratched up, the only good thing was that they were just flesh wounds and nothing serious.

"What happened to you?!" I ask, and he stares at me a strange look in his eyes.

"Squirrels…so many squirrels…"

"…Uh…" I turn to Killua who had been talking to Gon.

"Oh." He glances at me. "I found him on my way to the group, he was being chased by a giant horde of angry squirrels. But we made it out."

"….Well…"

"Excellent work everyone." We all turn towards the gates where Satotz is standing. "Phase two of the exam will occur here, in the Biska Forest Park. So, I shall take my leave. Best of luck to all of you."

And with that said, he casually starts to walk down the path in that strange way of his. The doors start to open by themselves, distracting me. I quickly gaze over the crowd, noticing a few people I had seen before. That bald guy, that guy with the arrows, that girl, and a few others…oh and the guy with the nails in him. What a creepy guy. Oh, and there was those three brothers who I met briefly by that pit with the stakes. Great.

"Will all the applicants who passed the First Phase please enter?" I hear a female voice speak over the crowd. I didn't really understand her question, all the applicants who made it here means that they passed, right?

"Welcome." She greets us. It was a strange sight, though I was starting to get used to those. She was a skinny woman with strange turquoise hair poking out, sitting on a couch on a sort of stage, with a HUGE guy behind her.

"I'm Menchi, the Second Phase examiner." She introduced herself.

"And I'm Buhara, the other examiner." Says the big guy.

We all stand waiting to be told what the challenge is going to be. I was nervous, really nervous. I swear they're were butterflies in my stomach that were on steroids. I nearly died over fifty times in the first phase, I wonder what this one was going to be… my fingers twitch, reflexively wishing I could take out my sketchbook and lose myself in my drawings.

A weird nose snaps me out of my thoughts, at first I thought it was some sort of animal. But instead, it's Buhara's stomach.

"You must be hungry." Menchi says, turning to him.

"I'm starving." He complains.

"There you have it." She announces, standing up. "Stage two will involve…"

Lions? Bears? Monsters? Snakes? Spiders? Gorillas? Wait, maybe it won't be a animal… maybe they'll make us jump into a volcano or something…my insides feel like they're twisting up into knots. I _do not_ handle stress well, enough with the dramatic pause already! I was going to crack!

"Cooking!" She exclaims, pointing a finger.

"Eh?" Saber shouts in surprise beside me, while I on the other hand feel like I'm going to collapse with shock.

"Cooking?!" An annoyed applicant calls out. He was a large guy with an orange ponytail. "We're here to take the hunter exam!"

"That's right." She easily replies. "Your challenge for the Second Phase is to produce a dish that will satisfy our palate."

I shift uneasily. That didn't sound very hard but…I could cook a bit but I wasn't an expert or anything. But hey I had to be better than some of the rest of these weirdos right?

"Why do we have to cook?" Someone else yells out.

"That's because," She says dramatically. "We are Gourmet Hunters."

…A what?

A guy in the audience starts to laugh, and I notice Saber snickering. I elbow him.

"Ow!"

"Don't be rude! You don't want to piss of the examiner!" I hiss.

But it was too late. Most of the other contestants were laughing too, Menchi did not look happy.

I notice Leorio glancing down at Saber, and frowning. "Oi." He whispers, using the sudden noise in the crowd as cover. "Those marks don't look deep but let me check them later in case they get infected."

Saber raises an eyebrow. "You know how to treat wounds?"

Leorio chuckles. "I better, I want to become a doctor."

Huh. That was new.

"So, Gourmet hunters, what are we supposed to make?" Rude pony tail guy suddenly asks.

She angrily frowns. "Buhara."

He gleefully steps forwards. "The required ingredient is pork."

"Pork?" Both Killua and I mutter, glancing at each other.

Buhara starts to explain what we have to do. Apparently we have to find some pigs in the forest, and cook it using the tools provided. We have to make it tasty enough that both Menchi and Buhara enjoy it. It sounded pretty straight forwards. That's why I was suspicious.

"This is going to be easy!" Saber chuckles.

I elbow him.

"Ow! Stop doing that!"

"Then stop being a idiot! This is the Hunter Exam, it won't be easy."

Before he has a chance to respond Buhara hits his stomach making a drum sound. "The second phase starts now!"

Suddenly everyone makes a mad dash towards the forest. Honestly I was sick of all the bloody running. But I run too, mostly just so I don't get trampled by everyone else.

Soon I find myself deep in the stupid woods. I don't know where Gon and the others are, but at least Saber was able to stick by me.

"Here piggy, piggy! You're going to make me a hunter!" Saber viciously whispers as he searches through some bushes. I sweat drop, the guy was going insane.

I go on a little ahead, where the hill suddenly dips. "Hey Saber, let's check out over here!"

"Over where?"

"Here!" I call out behind me, as I slowly try to make my way down. "But be careful it's steep-" I just finish my sentence when I hear a sudden crashing sound behind me.

"SHIT!"

I glance behind me, just to stare in horror as Saber slips on a loose stone and goes crashing down, right on top of me!

"AAAH-" He flies right into me, and we both go toppling down the hill.

**CRASH!**

"Ugh…" I groan, lying on my back on the grass. I can hear Saber also groaning in pain not too far away.

"Are we dead?"

I open one eyebrow, the sun instantly shining into it making me flinch. "Death wouldn't hurt this much."

Slowly we both get up, my eyes still tightly closed. I was going to kill him. "Does the words be careful mean nothing to you?!" I growl.

When he doesn't answer I turn around to face him, angry now. "Hey! Are you listening?!"

He still doesn't answer. Instead his eyes are raised somewhere above me, and his face had gone pale. His finger shakily points at something. "T-that's a big pig…"

"Huh?" Confused I whirl around, only to become face to face with what was definitely a big pig. A very big pig. A mean looking pig with a bone in its mouth.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" We scream as we run down the path. My legs pumping as I hear the thing crashing behind us.

"There's more coming!" Saber shrieks, nearly tripping when he turns to look.

"Don't look back!" I holler as I try to curve around a bunch of trees to lose them. To my horror they just crash right through the trees like they're not even there!

"AAAHHH!"

At first I thought that was Saber screaming, but instead I spot Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika in front of us. Also screaming and running away from a giant herd of pigs. Huh. Seems we all have the same shitty luck.

"Talin?! Saber?!" I hear Killua yell.

"No time to chat, just run!" I scream. We can't run straight ahead any more or we'll crash into them, so we turn to our right. Too bad the others had the same idea. Now we're all together being chased by evil giant carnivorous pigs. Wow, if I survive this it'll be one hell of a story.

Soon we pass by a bunch of other contestants, who at first appear confused, but faces quickly turn to horror as the giant pigs bash their way through them. I narrowly avoid getting hit by a guy who gets sent flying.

"Hey Blondie, long time no see." I can't help but joke as I run next to Kurapika.

"Not the time!" He yells.

"These pigs are crazy!" Leorio shouts. I have to give the guy points for _still _having his briefcase with him, If I were him I would…

"Leorio! Throw your briefcase at them!"

"What?! No way, it'll get destroyed!"

"Well we have to do _something_!"

We all distance ourselves from one another, trying to face a pig one on one. In the corner of my eye I can see the others attacking the pigs, to little or no success. My great plan included shrieking and using my little frame to my advantage by basically being a smaller target and running around a bunch of trees. I wasn't the only one running around like a chicken without a head, so was Leorio. Though this didn't make me feel that much better. While from what I could make out Saber kept trying to hit the thing with a wrench.

I noticed the others suddenly start to smack the pigs in the foreheads, and it was actually working! Following their example I grab a large branch off the ground and quickly scramble up the nearest tree, getting on to a low branch. I was pretty good at climbing. I turn and get ready, as the pig starts to charge towards me.

I have a mantra rattling around in my brain. I hope I don't die, I hope I don't die, I really really hope I don't die!

At the last second I jump as high as I can go, over the stupid things nose, and hit it right on the forehead. It makes a strange squealing noise, and collapses.

"I DID IT!" I cheer as I land on the ground, falling on my but.

"10 points! Though the landing can use some work!" I hear Saber tease.


	4. Death via cooking

I stare at the slabs of pig on the counter, my arms crossed. After having finally beaten the thing, everyone started carrying their pigs back to the wall. I thought I would have trouble, but they were surprisingly less heavy that I thought they would be.

Anyways, once we got back we all started cooking. And by cooking I mean most of the contestants just burnt the thing then gave it to the judges on a platter. From observing I could tell that just doing that wasn't enough, especially after Saber got a earful from Menchi. Trying to be a little creative I had cut some of the meat off into slabs. (Which by the way was seriously kinda gross since it smelled, and there was blood, and…ew.) But I wasn't really sure what to do now, and everyone else had the same kind of pig. What was there only one damn type in that whole forest?! Though I guess any other pigs would have just gotten eaten by the carnivore ones…

"No one has passed yet…" Remarks Leorio, who is watching the judges. Kurapika, Gon, Leorio and I were all surrounding one table. Saber was off somewhere moping, and who knows where Killua went.

"And Menchi hasn't even taken a bite." Observes Kurapika.

"Come on! Isn't there someone out there who can satisfy me?!" Menchi yells.

"That's it!" Kurapika cries, snapping his fingers. I raise an eyebrow.

"This phase of the exam is a cooking test-"

"No duh." I interrupt him.

"Let me finish." He practically growls at me, and I flinch, sweatdropping.

"But," He continues. "They're judging us on originality and powers of observation."

"I see…" Both Gon and Leorio nod, fingers on their chin wearing smug grins.

"Um…" I spot a problem in Blondies theory, but when I try to interrupt he just sends me a glare, and I quickly shut up. The three quickly start cooking.

"I know what to do…" Leorio exclaims and I watch as he smugly brings a pig on a platter up to the judges. The only thing different than the others is that his has a mini hunter flag sticking out of it. Oh boy.

"IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A KIDDY MEAL?!" Menchi screams, throwing it into the air, narrowly avoiding incapacitating Leorio.

Next up is Gon, who had wrapped a string of roses around his.

I duck behind the counter as his pig goes flying, and I watch bemused as the string of flowers land on a very confused contestant. Kurapika just calmly cooks, and I eye him, twitching. HOW IS HE SO CALM?!

He looks like he might be a while, so I guess it's my time to shine… After a few minutes of consideration I cut the meat into stripes, add some oil, roast it, than add some seasoning uses the random spices on the table. And for good luck, I even cut a tomato and place a few slices on the side. Here goes everything.

"Wish me luck." I mutter, and both Leorio and Gon cheer, though Kurapika just ignores me focused on his task. Annoying blondie. I walk up to the platform (nearly tripping over a stair but thank god I caught myself, that would be embarrassing.) And present my creation to the judges. Menchi eyes it while Buhara drools.

"Hmm… it looks different than the others…and you gave a effort…" She says, tapping her chin. To my surprise she actually takes a fork and knife and cuts herself a small piece. SHE WAS GOING TO TRY IT! HOLY SHIT!

She places the piece of meat in her mouth and chews, her eyes closed. I stand there silently, my fingers fiddling with my shirt. Did she like it or…?

Her eyes suddenly snap open and she screams, I can practically see flames shooting out of her mouth. "SPICY!"

I jump in surprise as she suddenly stands up, frantically waving her hands as she searches for some water.

"Um, um, um, here!" I panic, grabbing the glass off water on the table and quickly handing it to her. She gulps the thing down in a second. After she's finished she looks back at me, a dark aura surrounding her. SHIT! It didn't help that I could hear the laughter of the other contestants behind me. Bastards.

"What spice did you use?" She asks me darkly.

"Uh…I'm not really sure…a few different ones. There was a red one in a small bowl, and a blue one…and one that was kind of yellow…"

Buhara gulps, and I actually take a step back as Menchi gets even more furious. She was turning as red as the tomatoes.

"A BLUE ONE?! DO YOU MEAN THE SAHARA SCORCH SPICE?!"

Wow. Try saying that 5 times fast.

"Um…maybe?"

Her eyes bulge. "THAT CAN BE LETHAL IF GIVEN A LARGE ENOUGH EMOUNT!"

My jaw drops, I nearly killed an examiner?! "I didn't know!" I protest, waving my hands in the air as I panic. "I had no idea, I swear! Why did you even give us such a dangerous spice!"

"It has a danger symbol on the dish it was in!"

…Shit..did it? I guess I didn't notice…

"Don't you know anything about cooking?!" She shrieks.

"…Besides a tiny bit of experience in making, like a peanut butter and jelly sandwitch…not really." I mumble, wishing I could sink into the ground.

She gives an enraged howl before chucking the platter right at my head. Yelping I dive off the stage, hitting the ground and rolling. I get up and rush towards thwecounter where the others are, before jumping over the counter and quickly ducking under for cover.

The others stare at me, even Saber had returned once he heard all the commotion. "Well…that could have gone better." He remarks.

I just huddle under the table, shaking. "You think?!" I wail.

"It probably wasn't the best idea to tell her you really didn't know much about cooking…" Leorio adds, crouching in front of me.

"I was too scared to lie though!" I wine.

"Ready." Kurapika mutters to himself, ignoring my panic attack. We all watch as he walks up the steps and brings the meal in front of the judges. Seriously? He didn't even wait for Menchi to stop looking so angry, was he brave or just stupid?

Probably a bit of both.

He presents his platter, and Menchi looks at it skeptically. He had also sliced the meat, but had sort of made a kind of sandwich thing by layering the meat on with bits of tomato and lettuce in between.

It was hard to hear what was happening (since this time around Menchi wasn't screaming her head off) but things looked promising…until she took a bite. I watch bemused as she spit it out, and started angrily saying something to Kurapika, who looked very surprised.

When he comes back he looks kind of depressed, with his head hung low and all. And he was muttering something about not being better than 403…what? Wasn't that Leorio?

"Uh…what happened?" I ask, as I finally creep out from under the table.

"I thought the point was supposed to highlight the pork which was the main ingredient..." He explains, and I nod. Yah, that's true so…what went wrong? "I tried to create the dish in a way that did that by making it look different and presentable…but I didn't think the taste would matter…"

I stare at him, in shock. Say what? I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing.

He stares at me, his arms crossed as a faint blush reaches his cheeks. "What?!"

I have trouble forming words, my arms cluching my stomach. "Y-y-you…it's a cooking contest…a-a-and you didn't even…the taste…" I fall to the ground, rolling with laughter. "You're a idiot!"

"I don't want to hear that coming from you!" He growls, and at this I spring right back up.

"Hey! At least I took the freaking taste into consideration!"

"You nearly killed the examiner!"

At this point, we were both very close, eyes shooting daggers at each other. I can see Saber in the corner of my eye creeping up between us.

"Oooookaaayyyyyy, I think we all just need to calm down…" He says, nervously eyeing us.

Kurapika closed his eyes and huffs, turning around. I can feel my eye twitch, smug ass. "You're right, arguing with one such as her will get me no where."

My hands twitch as I reach for his throat. "Why you smug, pretentious, pretty boy…"

Saber grabs me around the waist and quickly drags me around the counter, nervously laughing. In the background Gon, Killua, and Leorio just nervously eye us.

I growl and struggle to get free. "Let go Saber, I need to kill him!"

"Calm down!"

"No!"

"If you don't calm down…" He pauses, thinking, before he continues in a whisper. "I'll tell them about the cheesecake incident."

I gasp in horror, instantly freezing. My head whips around so fast I thought I was going to get whiplash. "You wouldn't!"

He grins a cheshire grin, finally letting go of me, but I don't move. "Oh, yes I would."

I point a finger at him, glaring. "I swear I will kill you!"

He just smugly looks at me, his nose raised. "If you kill me, I'll just come back as a ghost and tell them anyways."

"Y-you-you…" My eye twitches as I stare at my annoying, horrible, traitorous, best friend.

I resign myself to glaring at anyone who get's close, crossing my arms and standing off to the side. Too bad I forgot about Gon's amazing senses, and apparently, hearing.

"What cheesecake incident?" He innocently asks, and I can sense the others confused stares on us.

Saber just cheekily smiles, as I glare at him, my cheeks to my horror going pink. "Not. A. Word."

A little while later, the pile of pig bones behind Buhara continues to grow, and so does the amount of candidates failing.

"Man, I'm stuffed!" Buhara announces, patting his stomach. I turn to them, straining my ears to hear what they're saying.

"I'm stuffed too." Menchi says as she stands up. I doubt she's really stuffed, she had hardly eaten anything, I guess she was just fed up. I get a sinking feeling in my stomach… this was bad…

"The Second Phase is now over!" Menchi calls, and everyone turns to look at her. "You have all failed!"

…Well shit.

Instantly the candidates start to get mad. That pony tail guy from before slams his fist onto the counter, which actually breaks apart. "Like hell I'm accepting his bullshit!" He roars.

"Yah!" Saber cries out, and I elbow him. Again.

"Ow! Would you stop doing that?!"

"Look I don't like this either, but don't take that guys side!"

"But Talin….we failed! Over cooking!"

My mouth pinches in annoyance. He was right. I guess. I mean we did suck at cooking but…I still didn't want to fail…ugh.

"Doesn't matter if you can't accept it, you've still failed." Menchi sternly replies.

"Why?!" Continues pony tail man. "You asked for pork so we risked out lives-"

"I said to make the pork in a way that would satisfy us, and none of you made anything remotely delicious!" Well I think Buhara liked the stuff at least.

"Almost all of you just roasted the damn pig, which takes no effort at all! And when I thought someone had tried, they had nearly killed me!"

At this I can feel a few pairs on eyes on me, including a smug look from blondie. I blush, ducking my head. I didn't freaking try to kill her on purpose!

"Or they had just changed the appearance, no one tried to empathize the flavor!" I look up, sending Blondie a smug look right back. He frowns and looks away. Ha!

Menchi points at the crowd angrily. "I'm positive none of you took cooking seriously!"

"How are we supposed to make it taste different?" The bald guy shrugs. "No matter who makes it, all pork dishes taste the same."

Uh oh. Menchi looked like she was going to go nuclear. Maybe I should go back under the counter… Menchi snarls and jumps down the stairs, and marches right over to the bald guy. She grabs him by the scarf, yanking him towards her. "Watch it baldie! Any more crap from you and I'll shove my arm up your ass so far that I'll knock your teeth out!"

I take a few steps back, a chill going up my spine. Saber peeks from around my shoulder from where he was hiding behind me.

Menchi than shoves poor bald guy away, and whirls back on to the crowd. Her eyes smoldering as she yells. "Anyone else got a comment?! I don't want lip from a bunch of amateurs who can't even roast a fucking pig!"

Nobody said anything; Saber just crouched even more behind me. Even Killua looked a little tense as the angered woman.

"That's what I thought." She sits back on the couch. "None of you have the guts to try anything new!"

Hey! Not true! I totally tried something new! It may have sucked and nearly killed her…but I did try!

"Shut up!" Pony tail man roars. Uh oh. He jabs a finger at Menchi. "I'm not trying to become a cook or gourmet, I'm trying to become a Hunter!"

A few others started to gain their courage, agreeing with him as they yelled out.

"Yah!"

"That's right!"

"This could get bad…" Saber nervously mumbles, and I nod, nervously eyeing the angry crowd.

Pony tail man continues. "My goal is to become a Black list Hunter! And I'm not about to let a mere Gourmet Hunter's decision keep me from becoming one!"

Menchi just shrugs, not giving a crap. "Too bad you got stuck with a mere Gourmet Hunter as a examiner." She says coolly. "Better luck next year?"

Pony tail man's eyes bulge as he lunges at her. "Why you!"

CRACK!

Suddenly Buhara moves, way faster than a guy his size should be able to, hitting the other guy before he even get's close. Pony tail man goes flying, crashing into the tower. Ouch, that's gotta hurt…

"That was my fight, Buhara, not yours." Menchi says, breaking the stunned silence.

"If I hadn't intervened you would have put him in the hospital." Buhara says, turning to her.

"With the way he hit that thing he's already going to the hospital." Leorio mutters.

Menchi laughs. "Yeah, probably." She suddenly stands up, revealing four knives. She walks down the stairs juggling her knives and she lectures us. She explains to us that all hunters know a form of martial arts, and how Gourmet Hunters have to fight also. She also explains that to be a hunter you can't just rely on strength and that we all lacked two key skills, the will to experiment, and being observant.

I guess I could sort of understand where she was coming from. I could understand it. Doesn't mean I had to like it. Saber quietly grumbles behind me. After her harsh lecture no one says a word, no one can even make eye contact. My shoulder slump, so now what? We had really all failed? God dammit, I failed because I couldn't cook a stupid pig. I guess there was always next year, but still having to wait a whole other year, and having to go through all of this crap again… and it would be even longer before we got to see Jett…

"Even so, isn't it a little excessive to fail every applicant?" A voice breaks through the silence, it sounded like it was coming through a megaphone. I look up, and gasp in surprise. Above us was a blimp! It had the Hunter Association symbol on its side. What…?

"Wait…" I turn to look at Saber, hearing the fear in his voice.

"What?"

"Is that…is that a person climbing out the window…?" Saber quietly asks, his eyes staying on the blimp.

My eyebrows raise I glance back up, no way was someone crazy enough-holy shit. There really was someone climbing out the window of the blimp! They looked like they were going to…

Saber gasps and I squeak as the person actually leaps from the blimp. "Are they nuts?!" Leorio yells.

CRASH!

Leorio, Saber, and I all scream when the person crashes into the ground, the applicants scattering as they panic. I even dive back under the counter, though this time the other two follow me.

When the dust finally settles, I veeerrrryyy careful poke my head out, around the corner of the counter. I wasn't really sure I wanted to see though… what if it was a bloody corpse or something? Saber pops his head out above mine, and Leo above his.

Instead of a bloody mess, standing calmly in the freaking crater was an old guy.

"What the hell?!" Leorio gasps, saying what was on everybody's mind. He was even kind of skinny. How did he survive that?!

Confused whispers spread across the crowd of onlookers, and thankfully Menchi helps to explain. "That man is the Chairman Netero, Chairman of the Committee that is in charge of the Hunter Exam."


	5. Into the web

"You have got to be kidding me…this geezer?!" Saber says, his eyes as round as dinner plates.

"Well that's my official title." Old guy Netero says. "But I work more behind the scenes and only take action when there's an issue, like now. So, Menchi."

Menchi straightens up, looking serious. "Yes, sir?"

"Apparently you failed all of the applicants because you disapproved of their reluctance to try new things."

"No, sir, it wasn't that."

…It wasn't?

"I lost my cool when one of the candidates insulted Gourmet Hunters. I ended up making the exam harder."

I whirl around to face Saber, making him back up and bump into Leorio. "Ha! See, this is why you shouldn't mock examiners!" I knew Saber wasn't the main candidate Menchi was pissed at, but still.

"Wha-hey!" He frowns. "At least I didn't try to kill her!"

I growl, they were never going to let me live that down. "For the last time, I didn't me-"

"SSSHHHH!" Leorio shushes us, harshly. I turn back to the conversation between Menchi and crazy old guy, still annoyed.

"Ah, so you're aware that this exam was unacceptable." Old guy says.

Menchi nods, she was acting way different than she had acted to us. Obviously she really respected this guy. "Yes sir, when cooking is involved I lose my cool."

Understatement of the year.

"I will resign as examiner, so please redo the Second Phase."

I blink, surprised. Not expecting that. But wait, we were getting a second chance…?

"Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. It would be difficult to find another examiner on such short notice."

Dang.

"I apologize." Menchi bows slightly.

The old guy strokes his beard, as an idea comes to him. "Very well, how about this? I'd like you to continue serving as an examiner. But you must also participate in the new test you propose, so the candidates know the task is not impossible. Is that acceptable?"

Honestly, I didn't really feel very confidant with that. From what I had seen some of these guys didn't even appear remotely human. Actually, Saber, Leorio, and myself seemed to be the most human out of them.

Menchi smiles. Yes sir, in that case the new challenge will be…" Menchi pauses, thinking. "Boiled eggs."

"Boiled eggs?" Gon repeats, tilting his head in confusion.

"Chairman, can you take us to Mt. Split-in-Half in your airship?" She points at the blimp.

"Mt, Split-in-Half?" Old guy smiles in an understanding sort of way. "Certainly, I can do that."

He waves at the airship, and he starts to slowly descend until it's safely lowered on the ground,

"Come on!" Menchi orders as she and Buhara walk in to the ship through the door.

I glance at the others, Saber shrugs. "You heard her."

I follow the others on to the ship, all the candidates were milling around a large room.

"It will take around an hour to get to Mt, Split-in-Half, please occupy yourselves until then!" The old guy calls out.

People start leaving the room to go wander around the ship, I spot Saber quickly walking away. "Oi, Saber? Where are you going?"

He turns around, a large smile on is face. "The engine room, of course! Do you know many chances you get to see the machinery of a hunter airship?! I've got to make the most of this! I bet they have the latest machinery…" Saber says dreamily, almost drooling.

I roll my eyes. "Gear head."

"Art freak!"

"Bolts for brains!"

After calling each other a few good natured insults we go our separate ways. I wasn't completely sure where the others had disappeared too, we had gotten separated in the crowd.

"Hmm…an hour, huh?" I muse to myself, staring out at a window of an airship in an empty hallway. It was a beautiful view…

Making up my mind I sit against the wall, taking out my sketchbook and coloured pencils from my messenger bag. The windows covered a whole hallway wall, I'll be damned if I didn't draw this beautiful scenery. We were passing by a lush forest, and there were mountains in the distance. Perfect!

The minutes pass and I wasn't completely sure how much time had passed until I was suddenly interrupted. When I draw I can go into this sort of zone and time just seems to fly by.

"Talin!"

I look up at the shout and look to my left, where I see Gon and Killua running up to me. I wave. "Hey."

"Hi, wow, did you just draw that?" Gon curiously stares at my drawing.

"Yah, I'm just finishing it up."

"Woooahhh that's good!" Killua says in amazement.

"Oh yah, Talin is a really good drawer!" Gon agrees.

I blush slightly. "Er, I'm not that good…"

"Sure, and Leorio is really a teenager." Killua snorts.

"Uh, Killua, I think he really is one, even if he doesn't look like it…" Gon mumbles.

"I was joking!" Killua turns to me. "Oh speaking of the old man, he's looking for you."

"Huh? Why?" I ask, putting my stuff back into my bag.

Killua shrugs. "Don't know, but I saw carrot top with him. They're near the end of the ship."

I laugh. "Carrot Top, Saber won't like that. Ok thanks for telling me, see you guys later!" I run off, looking for 'Carrot Top' and Leorio.

I get a little bit lost, but soon I find Leorio and Saber in the middle of a hallway,

Leorio spots me. "Talin! Good, I was just looking for you."

"Yah I hear, what's up?" I see Saber walk out from behind Leorio. He looked better than before; the worst cuts were bandages up.

"He just wants to check out if you has any injuries, he patched up mine, well too! You'll make a good doctor Leorio!" Saber grins at the tall man, who looks embarrassed.

"Ah, well…"

"Well, see ya guys! I need to get a better look at those machines, they're awesome…" Saber announces, sparkles in his eyes. He runs off down the hall.

I turn to Leorio. "Thanks Leorio, but I think I'm fine."

Leorio narrows his eyes at me, hands on his hips. "That bruise on your face says differently, how'd you get it?"

I blink in surprise, but then remember. I have a bruise on my forehead from the time I smacked into a tree during the first test through the swamp…

"I-uh…just got into a fight…no worries, you should see the other guy!" I nervously laugh, rubbing the back of my head. No way was I going to admit the real reason.

Leorio just looks at me, skeptical. Then he sighs, and crouches to the ground to open his brief case.

"Whatever, here put some of this on it. The bruise will heal faster." He says, passing me a brown bottle of ointment. I can see that his whole briefcase was full of medicine and stuff.

"Thanks." I start applying the stuff to my forehead, and he was right. I can already feel some of the pain fading.

"No problem."

"Why don't you put some on you're bruise?"

Bruise was to put it mildly, his cheek was swelling to the size of a apple.

"I already did." He shrugs.

I stare at the guy, thinking. I had, had a bit of a strange impression of him at first. He was a little…much… but I was starting to realize he was actually pretty kind hearted. Like the others. I didn't know too much about Killua, but hey a guy who can become such a good friend of Gon's that quickly can't be horrible. And even Blondie was alright, I guess.

"What?" He asks, cocking his head in confusion.

I shake my head, giving back the medicine. "Nothing. So, is there any real reason you want to become a doctor? Or a Hunter for that matter?"

He pauses at my words; I couldn't see his expression because he was looking down at his briefcase as he put the medicine away. Suddenly he looks up, and his personality does a whole 180.

"Money!"

"…Huh?" It was my turn to be confused.

"I want to become a Hunter for money! You can buy anything with money! Power! Fame! Good liqiour!" He cheers, his arms raised.

I stare at him in shock. "Wait, are you serious?!"

"But of course! Did you know that in the 100 richest people list, every year there's at least 50 hunters on it?"

My jaw drops. "B-but…is that the real reason? Really? Just to be rich?"

He nods, his arms crossed.

My eyebrows scrunch together. "You're lying. If that was true, than why a doctor? You can make more money doing different types of jobs. And besides, the price you have to pay to go to school to become a doctor is high!"

He stiffens, his smile slipping slightly. He sighs, a hand going through his hair, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. "I know. That's why I need to become a Hunter; I need enough money to pay for my tuition… I want to help people, like how I wanted to help my friend…"

The atmosphere had suddenly changed. "Your friend?" I ask tentatively, I could tell I was poking at a touchy subject.

He sighs again, looking down at me. "I had a best friend when I was younger, but he died from a curable disease. While it was treatable the costs of the procedure were too much…I was naïve back then. I thought I could work hard and become a doctor, and cure him. But I found out that I didn't even have enough to pay for the costs of medical school…"

…Wow. Welcome to Feelsville. Population, me, and my tears.

"I'm so sorry about your friend…but Saber is right. You're going to be an amazing doctor." I smile, and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He obviously knew his stuff, and when he wasn't being a complete money grubbing, skirt chasing idiot, he could be very caring. (I knew he was a skirt chasing idiot because he had tired to flirt with this one lady with red hair, but when she had pulled out a rifle, he quickly backed off)

He smiles sheepishly. "Thanks…so uh…why do you want to become a hunter?"

"Oh, um…" I was a little caught off guard by the sudden switch of subject. "It's because-"

"WE'VE ARRIVED!"

CRASH!

I jump back as Gon runs right into Leorio, but unlike me he actually topples Leorio to the ground.

"Ow! Hey Gon!" Leorio angrily yells.

Gon laughs nervously, quickly getting to his feet. "Sorry, sorry! Come on, they're opening the doors!" He runs off down the corridor, Killua chasing after him.

I had been so caught up with Leorio's tale I hadn't even realized we had landed. I lend a hand to Leorio who takes it, and I help pull the guy up.

"Here we go, the second phase, again. You ready?" Leorio asks me, as we make our way to the entrance.

"No." I answer truthfully, as we start to hear the general chatter coming from the rest of the candidates. "But's that's never stopped me."

oOoOo

Ok. Maybe it's going to stop me. Because I was not ready at all for this!

What this was, exactly, I wasn't completely sure. But I didn't like it. Not one bit. We were all standing at the edge of a large crack, in the middle of a mountain. Well, it certainly suited its name… it was a large cliff, and I couldn't even see the bottom. Just a bunch of what looked like webbing of all things lining across the walls.

"A Spider Eagles Web." Menchi announces, looking confidently down the cliff. I for one was just feeling woozy looking at. I mean I wasn't exactly heights beiggest fan, though I guess I could stand them…but not everyone could.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…" I hear Saber mumble from behind me. Poor guy.

"They build webs down there?" Gon's asks.

Suddenly a breeze rushes by, and I stumble back a little, while pony tail man and Saber fall actually fall to the ground.

"Look below the web." Menchi says.

"Those are…" Gon stares down at the webs.

"Those are Spider Eagle eggs." Menchi explains. From what I could see below the webbing were little nets attached to the lines full of eggs.

"Spider Eagles build their webs in deep ravines." Continues Netero. "To protect their eggs from predators. This makes their eggs one of the most difficult ingredients to contain."

What happens if a Spider Eagle thing spots us staring at their eggs? Would it swoop down and try to decapitate us or something? I warily glance up at the sky, just in case.

"The eggs are known as dream eggs." Netero states calmly, as he walks closer to the cliff.

"W-wait a minute…you don't mean…." Pony Tail guy stutters.

I glance behind me at Saber, who had just started getting up. He was also realizing what was about to happen, and his face looked like the colour of milk. This could be a problem…

"I sure do." Menchi exclaims, confidently.

"What?!"

I eye her as she start to walk towards the cliff…she wasn't going to…

"She's crazy!" Saber mumbles, and I have to agree with him when she suddenly leaps off the giant fucking cliff. (in heels, no less!)

"Oh my god!" I gasp and run as close to the cliff as I can stand. Saber doesn't move, just mumbling 'we're going to die, we're going to die' over and over again with his eyes scrunched tight.

I look down and spot Menchi hanging off one of the webs. It was actually kind of hard to see, since Gon and Killua's heads were in the way, in front of me. And I was stuck in some sort of half crouch since Leorio and Kurapika were hovering behind me. Personal space much?

"Even if she can grab some eggs, how will she climb back up?" Leorio wonders, and my eyes widen. He was right, was she suicidal or something? No, she knows what she's doing…right?

Suddenly she let's go.

I gasp, my hand instantly covering my mouth as my eyes widen in horror. I back up, bumping into Kurapika, but I hardly notice, but I do find it a little surprising when he just puts a hand on my shoulder to steady me.

Leorio also gasps, and pony tail man makes a strange sound and stumbles back. I can still faintly hear Saber mumbling his 'we're all going to die.' Mantra. A little ray of sunshine, wasn't he?

My eyes follow her small form as it get's smaller and smaller the more she falls. She had grabbed on to an egg and was now falling through the mist…we could hardly see her anymore…

"Hey…she jumped down!" Leorio exclaims, worried. "Is she trying to kill herself?!"

I was wondering the same thing. It felt like butterflies were fluttering in my stomach again.

"No she's not."Kuraika states calmly. HOW THE HELL IS HE ALWAYS SO CALM?!

"She isn't?" I raise an eyebrow, because it definitely looked that way to me…

Suddenly there's a huge gust of wind, and right in front of my eyes Menchi floats up until she's hovering above us, an egg in her hand.

"…That looks kind of awesome…" I say in aw.

"Now you're the one that's crazy!" Saber yells, popping out of nowhere and clutching on to my shoulder. He's staring at Menchi like she's some sort of alien lifeform.

"That looks fun!" Killua agrees.

"You're insane…you're all insane…" Saber mumbles. I think if he wasn't holding on to my he would have slumped to the ground.

"This ravine had updrafts." The old guy explains. "That help the hatched chicks fly up to the web."

Menchi easily drops to the ground. "There, now I just need to boil the egg." She declares.

"Y-you must be joking…" Pony tail man says. "No reasonable person would jump down there."

"I've been waiting for this!" Gon says eagerly, as he prepares to jump.

"W-w-wait…" Saber stutters, taking a few steps back but I grab his left arm.

"Come on, Saber! You want to be a Hunter, don't ya?"

"I don't want to die!"

Kurapika and I make eye contact, and he nods, grabbing on to Saber's right arm.

"I'm sorry we gotta do this Saber…" I say as we step closer to the edge, dragging Saber along. To be honest I was kind of terrified, but I know that If I showed how nervous I was, Saber would never do it. That thought in mind I pushed my fear down, no way was I going to let this stop me!

"AH! DON-" Saber tries to protest, but it's too late.

All together we leap into the ravin, and for a second it seems like we're weightless. But then gravity takes it's hold and we start to fall. Kurapika and I let go of Saber, as my heart shoots up to my throat. I can't speak, though that wasn't the case for Saber.

"AAAAAAAIIIIIII!" He shrieks as we plummet down.


	6. Red eyes

"Grab on to the webs!" Yells Kurapika, and I reach out a hand blindly, thankfully getting a good grip on a passing web. Saber was too preoccupied with screaming though, but thankfully I grab on to his shirt.

"Ugh!" I grit my teeth as his weight pulls on me. "Ow damn it Saber! My arms going to pulled out of its socket!"

He doesn't say anything, just very shakily reaches up for a line of webbing, and grabs on to it. When I'm sure he isn't about to fall, I let go, and clutch the webbing with both hands.

"See, that wasn't that bad…" I smile shakily at him. He just stares at me in horror. I'm pretty sure this was going to leave him with some sort of mental scar or something. He's grow wider as one of the applicants around us yells "Catch you later!" And plummets into the creepy mist.

"Let's go!" Leorio exclaims, who was beside Kurapika, who was on my right. While Saber, Killua, and Gon were on my left.

"Not yet." Gon says, and I glance at him. How did he know?

"Why not?" Leorio asks.

"There's no wind." Killua states.

"There isn't always a updraft." Kurapika adds.

"Oh…" I mutter, glancing down. "Than the guy who just jumped…"

We hear a scream from below. Saber looks like he's about to wet himself. I wasn't feeling too good either.

"When's the next one?" Asks Leorio.

"Wait." Gon tenses as he waits.

By now I was getting used to that kid's weird super instincts, so I trust him and hold on. I hope it won't take too long…

Suddenly we hear a weird snapping sound, and the string suddenly jerks a bit.

"What?" Leorio cries out.

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" Saber screams.

"Get a hold of yourself!" I yell back, eyeing the string. "Shit!"

"The web wont hold us all!" Kurapika yells.

"Gon, not yet?" Killua asks, way too calmly.

Gon doesn't answer, just keeps his eyes closed as he sniffs the air. Some of the other candidates start to get antsy.

"Damn! I can't wait for a updraft!" One exclaims, and let's go. A few others join him and we watch as they plummet down, screaming.

"Oh god oh god oh god…" I chant as the string jerks even more.

"It's gonna snap!" Leorio screams.

"NOW!" Gon yells.

We all let go, and start to fall. I spot a bunch of eggs coming up fast, and I grab one. To my relief I spot the others grabbing on to eggs too, even Saber.

But that relief soon disappears as we continue to fall…no way…was Gon wrong?

But as soon as that thought passes I feel a light breeze that quickly grows stronger. "WHOOOO HOOOOOO!" I can't help but laugh as I'm carried way up.

We're all floating above the ridge, Gon and Killua are laughing, while Kurapika just smiles. He had a nice smile, he should smile more.

Wait…why did I? Wow, the adrenaline must be really rushing to my brain or something.

"We're alive…" Saber sobs, and I laugh.

"Yep!"

"And the rest of you?" Menchi turns to the people who hadn't jumped off the cliff. "I guess you quit." One of the them was pony tail man.

"It takes courage to concede too." Old guy adds.

We land safely on the edge. Saber collapeses, kissing the dirt. "Sweet, sweet solid ground!"

I cringe. "Dude. Ew."

He ignores me.

We boil the eggs in this giant pot, and after we start to eat them. I look around and see everyone else was enjoying theirs, so I take a large bite.

"Wahhh…" I grin. "It's so good!"

It was _way _better than any egg I'd ever tasted before!

"This is damned good!" That bald ninja guy agrees. "Much better than any eggs you buy in a store!"

"I can see why they're called dream eggs." Kurapika smiles.

I nod. "Mmph gmp fmphishish!" [This is delicious!] I try to say, while eating the egg.

"What…?" Killua sweat drops.

In the corner of my eye I watch as Gon offeres his egg to… Todo! That's what pony tail man's name was! Ohhhh….

He takes a bite, and his eyes widen at the taste. Menchi smiles, and goes and talks to him, about how he is experiencing the reason why Gourmet Hunters risk their lives for delicious new foods.

Hm…being a Gourmet Hunter seemed pretty cool…but I don't know if it was for me. Actually I had no idea what kind of Hunter I wanted to be…

**oOoOo**

Airship time! Again!

Again, we're stuck in a smallish room, right at the front. One whole wall was just a bunch of windows, and in front of the room was the old guy, and that green looking guy who had handed out our number tags in the beginning. It was a little less crowded, since there were less candidates, I was with the others near the front of the crowd.

"Allow me to introduce myself to the forty-two remaining applicants." Old guy says, even though we all knew who he was. "I am Netero, Chairman of this year's Hunter Exam Selection Committee."

"I am his secretary, Beans." Says Green Bean. Yep, I'm calling him that now.

"Originally, I had planned to make my appearance during the exam's final phase, but as I'm already here… I'm loving this tension in the air!"

There was a lot of tension. It probably had to due to the fact we are pressed together like sardines, and maybe it was because I've seen some of these guys attack and kill other people without blinking a eye…cough, crazy clown freak, cough. But seriously? He 'loved' it? What, was he some sort of sadistic too? Because we totally needed more of those! Cough, clown freak, again. Cough.

"So I think I'll stick around for the rest of the trip." As he talks, Killua yawns. He seems to not really care about all the 'tension' in the air.

"We are schedules to arrive at our destination tomorrow morning, at 8am." Green Bean informs us. "You'll find dinner waiting in the dining hall."

"Yessss!" I quietly cheer, I was starving! That dream egg was good, but definitely not enough!

"You are also welcome to get some rest." Continues Green Bean. "In other words, you're free to do as you please until you are contacted."

"Okay, Gon! Let's explore the airship!" Killua says, turning to face him.

"Yeah!" Gon nods, and they run off.

"How do they have so much energy?" Leorio wonders out loud. "I'm hitting the sack."

"You can say that again." Kurapika sighs.

"Same." Saber yawns.

I shake my head. "I'll meet up with you guys later, I need something to eat!"

Saber nods, but before they leave Kurapika suddenly speaks up again. "However, I do have once concern."

"Hm, what's up?" Leorio asks, as we make our way towards the hallway.

"How many more phases are there?" He ponders.

"Huh…good question." I mutter, staring at the floor.

"Oh, they never mentioned, did they?" Leorio says, pausing.

"On average there are five to six phases." A annoyingly familiar voice says from behind us. No way…

We turn around, and low and behold it's the juice guy…what was his name again? Tonpa? How he made it this far is a mystery… and why on earth did that name ring warning bells in my head? What the hell?

"Which means we still have three to four to go…" Leorio says.

Both Saber and I groan.

"Great." I mutter.

"All the more reason to rest now." Concludes Kurapika.

We turn around again, and are about to leave the room again when Toda says something that makes us pause. Again.

"But you should be careful…"

"Why?" I ask, turning around.

"The secretary only told us when we'll arrive at our destination. It's possible that the third exam could take place on this airship itself." He answers. "And it doesn't necessarily mean that we'll be contacted at 8 AM."

"Huh? Are you serious?" Leorio says, eyes wide.

"This just keeps getting better and better…" Saber mutters sarcastically.

I just frown. I wasn't too sure about this. I mean, before all the phases had started at set times and stuff. And we had always been informed and when they were going to begin. I know it's the Hunter exam and everything but the chances for the third phase to be on the ship seemed kind of low…especially since they said that we could do whatever we pleased, wouldn't they tell us to be prepared or something instead? At least that's what I thought.

"Hmm…that does make sense." Kurapika says, frowning at the ground.

It did? Really? Well damn. Now how were we supposed to rest? And I wanted to eat, damn it!

"You might wake up to discover that the exam has already ended." Tonpa continues, he seemed to be enjoying our discomfort.

"If you plan to make it to the next phase, don't let yourself relax on this airship!"

"What the hell…" Leorio sighs. "Well that was some good advice. Thanks!" He turns towards the doors and starts to walk away.

"We shall bear that in mind." Kurapika follows him.

Saber walks after the other two, his head hanging low and I follow behind. I glance back, and my eyes narrow at Tonpa's face, he was grinning evilly. But when he notices me watching him he quickly changed his face to an innocent look. Something was very wrong with that guy…

"Let's all do our best!" I hear him call out.

I follow them into a smaller hallway, and the three guys sit down against the wall. I continue walking towards where I think the dining hall was supposed to be, but I turn back before leaving.

"I'll see you guys later, but um, I don't think you'll have to worry about the third phase being on the airship."

"Why not?" Saber asks, tilting his head to look around Kurapika.

I shrug. "It just seems unlikely. Before they always told us when a phase would start, and they did tell us that we could do whatever we pleased with the spare time we had on the airship. Wouldn't it make more sense to tell us to be ready for the next phase, or whatever?"

Saber nods, thinking. While Leorio looked like he was already asleep. For some reason Kurapika was staring at me intently, which was making me a little self conscious. **[1]**

"And that Tonpa guy seems a little…sketchy. But, uh, do what you want, I guess." I shrug again, and walk away.

**Kurapika was staring at her intently because he had reached the same conclusion, and was a little surprised that she had thought of it too.**

**oOoOo**

I'm in front of the dining room doors, and was about to enter when I nearly get barreled over by Killua and Gon who were just running out.

"Oh! Lin!" Gon happily chirps, a drumstick in his mouth.

I raise an eyebrow. "Lin?"

He smiles. "Yah! Is it okay if I call you that?"

I hesitate, thinking. Gon's smile lessens, and he takes out the drumstick. "Oh, but if you don't want me to-

I interrupt him, waving my hands a little. "No, no, it's fine, it's just I have a friend who also calls me that, so I was a little surprised."

"Who?" Killua asks, curious.

"He's name is Jett." I smile, memories of the older blue haired boy coming back to me.

"Oh…" Gon stares at me, looking like he's going to ask more questions so I quickly try to change the subject.

"Anyways, is the food good?" I ask.

"Mhm!" He nods, and Killua also agrees.

"Oh but, don't try taking it from the kitchen. The chiefs don't like that…" Killua adds.

I stare at them for a few seconds, sweat dropping.

"Um. Okay. Well, catch you guy's later, oh and the other guys are asleep in a hallway somewhere, by the way." I add, as I walk through the doors.

"Thanks!" I hear Gon call out.

I enter the room, it was well lit, and there were a bunch of tables and chairs scattered about. On the left near a wall was a long table with a bunch of foods on. Yay, it was a buffet! There weren't too many people, so I grab a plate and wait in line for my food.

After grabbing some I walk over to a empty table near a window. I sigh as I carry the heavy plate.

"I did it again." I mutter, staring at the towering pile of good. I always had this problem at buffets of grabbing way too much food…

The good thing was though that for one, it was all free, and second of all I could save some of the food for later. Who knows when my next meal will come by. I grab a napkin and wrap it around a few rolls of bread, and a few bottles of water, and stuff them into my bag. Then I grab a fork and dig in.

~Yummy!~

After eating most of the food (I had tried to eat it all, but I felt like I was going to burst!) I lean contently against the chair, sighing. It felt good to have a break… after I've had my fill I stand up and walk back outside, ignoring some of the looks from the guys nearby. They were acting like they'd never seen a female before.

I walk down a hallway, a little faster than I had to. I didn't want to run into one of them again. Now where was Kurapika and the others?

Turning a corner I bump into someone, and stumble back. I look up, just to see the Blondie himself.

"Blondie!"

His surprised expression switches to an annoyed one. "It's Kurapika."

I laugh, but he doesn't look very amused. "You have no sense of humor! Where's the others?"

"Saber and Leorio are still in the hallway asleep, I went to search for a glass of water. Can you tell me where the dining hall is?"

"Yah sure Blondie, it's just down here," I turn around pointing down the hallway I just went, than I glance back at him. "And th-"

I stop midsentence, and the sudden furious look on his face. I've never seen him so pissed before, I actually take a step back. "Holy-ok, ok, sorry I'll call you Kurapika!" I raise both my hands in front of me.

But he isn't look straight at me; instead he's staring at my shoulder? I glance at my left shoulder, and (ew) I notice a large daddy long leg spider. Gross!

"Oh ew, I h-" Before I can finish my sentence I feel something plow into me.

?! 

I crash to the ground (which hurt by the way!) staring up in shock. Kurapika had one hand on the ground beside my head, and the other had smashed the spider on to the ground. He was right on top of me.

I don't make sound; I think I was in shock or something. No, I must have been hallucinating because…because Kurapika's eyes…were red.

Like, _bright_ red!

I had no idea what was going on. None. Kurapika stares at his hand in disgust, which has the remains of the spider on it, before he wipes it off on to the ground.

"K-K-" I try to choke out his name, but it seems I had lost the ability to talk. My face was blushing like crazy. This guy was heavy!

He turns to look at me, and I can't hold back a gasp. I couldn't be hallucinating everything was too clear, but… his eyes. They were beautiful, but also terrifying. Never in my entire life had I ever seen a look filled with such anger.

A few seconds pass, and I nearly stop breathing. But slowly recognition starts to dawn in his eyes, and they slowly, oh so slowly, start to turn back to their natural grey-ish brown colour.

He blinks, once. His face changing from an angered expression to shock as he realizes our position. "Talin?" He breathes out, his eyes wide.

I don't say a word, my eyes the size of saucers.

"Oh…oh I'm so sorry!" Kurapika seems to snap out of it, and leaps up. He stumbles and falls back to the ground.

I slowly raise my head, and as soon as he's off me I crawl back a bit.

"Are you alright? Please, I am so sorry I did not mean to…" He looks frantic.

I don't say a word.

"Please…say something…"

Well alright then.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" I scream, snapping out of my temporary shocked state.

I leap up, pressing myself against the wall to get as far away from him as I possibly can. "Y-y-y-you just…you just _attacked _me!" I shriek, pointing a shaking finger at him.

He has the most guilty look on his face. "I know, I am so sorry, I can explain."

I don't listen to him, now I was the one who was panicking. "A-and you eyes! They turned fucking RE-!" I start to yell, but suddenly he's in front of me, a hand covering my mouth.

I gasp, pressing myself against the wall harder.

He notices my terrified look, and quickly let's go of, taking a few steps back. His hands rose in front of him, palms facing outward. "I'm sorry, please, I promise I will explain but…could we go somewhere more private? I do not want people walking in on our conversation."

Let's see, did I want to go to a isolated area with a guy who is apparently insane and whose eyes glow red? Hm….

"Uh…" Is all I can say.

"I promise, I shall not harm you."

Uh well considering you just attacked me that didn't really mean much… but he had the most heart broken look on his face. God damnit. I was going to die, all because I was too freaking nice to say no to him when he looked like that.

"Okay…" I mumble, and he gives me a small smile.

"Follow me." He gestures down the hall and I follow a few steps behind, keeping a close eye on him in case he suddenly goes feral again. He was respecting my need for space, and only turned to look back at me to make sure I was still following.

He reaches a door, and opens it and walks it. I follow and I find myself in a small empty room with no windows. Great.

He closes the door and I take a few steps back from him, unconsciously I hold on to my right arm with my left, just below the elbow.

"Well?" I say, trying to sound strong, but my boice comes out weaker than I meant it too.

He sighs, and leans against the wall. He suddenly looks very, very tired. "I am the last sole survivor of the Kurta Clan."

…I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. I remember hearing about them when I was younger, but I was spared of details of the massacre. I feel a familiar sinking feeling in my stomach; damn this wasn't going to be good.

"When I was 12 they were all brutally killed by a group called the Phantom Troupe. My Clan was sought for their scarlet eyes. They only shined scarlet when the owner was feeling extreme emotion. The Phantom Troupes' symbol is the spider." He isn't looking at me; his eyes are focused on the ground. His arms are crossed over his chest tightly.

"The only reason I survived was because I was allowed to leave the village 6 weeks before and passing three tests. Everyone else was killed, my parents…my best friend…"

My fear and anger start to drain away, and my arms hang limply at my side.

Kurapika sighs deeply again, his eyes closing. "Now whenever I see a spider, I can't help but feel a deep rage and I go into a frenzy… The reason I want to become a Hunter is to track down the Phantom Troupe."

He opens his eyes and stares at me, a deep sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to hurt you. I could not control myself."

I pause staring at him. Damn, how was I supposed to be mad at this guy after hearing all that? "It's okay…"I say softly, and I walk towards him.

Before I even know what I'm doing, I reach out, and hug him. He stiffens in surprise as I place my chin on his shoulder. But slowly, he lifts up his arms and hugs me too.

We stay like that for a couple seconds. My eyes were closed. I let go slowly, and take a step back, opening my eyes, a faint blush on my cheeks.

"Sorry…" I mutter, scratching the back of my head. "I wasn't really thinking…"

His mouth twitches, and to my surprise he lets out a laugh. "You're the one who's apologizing?"

I stare at him, eyes raised, as he tries to stop the bubbles of laughter. But soon I start chuckling. The next thing you know there we are, two idiots, laughing like there's no tomorrow.

Slowly our laughter dies down, the tension had been cut and instead there was a light hearted atmosphere.

I rake a hand through my hair, suddenly feeling exhausted. "Come on Blondie, let's go find the Saber and Leorio and get some sleep."

He rolls his eyes at the nickname, but follows me out the door. "Talin…"

I pause and turn back. "Yah?"

"What I just told you…it was very private. Leorio already knows, but if you could not tell the others…" He looks at me, a serious expression on his face.

I smile. "Of course. You can trust me."

He smiles with relief.


	7. Again with the heights

"I apologize for the long wait."

…What? Who's that? Who's talking? I'm tired!

"The airship will soon arrive at its destination!" I blearily blink my eyes open and realize the voice is coming from the intercom. I was currently lying on the ground. My foot nudging something.

I sleepily look over, and see that I'm accidently nudging Kurapika, who is also waking up. We had found Leorio and Saber passed out in the hallway, and had decided to just plop down next to them and fall asleep.

I yawn and wearily get up, stretching. Kurapika does the same. I walk over and nudge both Leorio and Saber with my foot.

"Wakey wakey!" I yawn again. Saber opens his eyes, pushing my foot away.

"I'm up, I'm up…ugh the ground was not comfortable." He groans, getting up. Leorio doesn't budge.

I crouch down beside Leorio. "Wake. Up. Wake. Up." I punctuate each word with a poke to his face.

He grumbles, and starts swatting at my hand. I see on eye open up. "Whuzat?" He sleepily asks.

"Time to get up, we're here." Kurapika declares.

**OoOoO**

"It's so damn bright!" I whine, bring my hand up to block the bright light.

"No kidding." Leorio grumbles.

He seemed kind of irritable, I guess he hadn't had a good sleep or something. Well like Saber had said, the ground was pretty uncomfortable. Though I think some of the new bruises I was sporting on my back might have been from a certain Blondie…

"Where are we?" Saber mutters, peering around. We had gotten of the airship, and were now with the rest of the crowd. We seemed to be on some tall cylinder ontop of a cliff, in the middle of the forest. In the distance I could see mountains and a river. Hm, maybe if we have the time I could quickly draw a sketch… I look around, eyeing the crowd.

I wasn't totally sure what was bothering me, but for some reason I can't scanning the crowd, a nagging feeling in my mind.

"What's up?" Saber asks, noticing my looks.

"Hmm…" I tilt my head in thought. "Am I going crazy or are we missing someone…?"

"Hm?" He glances around the crowd, then back to me.

I look around again, but then shake my head. "Nevermind." **[2] They were missing someone, the two people that Killua had killed on the airship!**

"Ahem."

We all turn towards Green Bean, who is standing in front of the crowd.

"Everyone, the exam's Third Phase will begin here, at the top of Trick Tower."

"Trick Tower?" An applicant repeats.

"To pass this phase you must reach the base of this tower alive." Green Bean explains. "The time limit is seventy-two hours. With that we will now being the Third Phase. I will pray for your success."

Leorio glances around mystified. "What are we supposed to do."

"No idea…" I mutter.

I stumble back a few steps as the airship takes off, making my hair flutter. Saber coughs as some dirt get's blown on to him, who was closest to the airship.

"Best of luck to everyone!" I hear Green Bean say over the intercom.

We all walk towards the edge, which actually took a minute or so since the top of the tower was so wide. I look over the edge, wow, we're we high up! We stare down the side of the tower. How were we supposed to get down? There was nothing up top to help us. No doors, no windows, nada.

"Are we supposed to climb down?" Leorio wonders, clutching his briefcase to his chest.

"Nooooo!" Whines Saber, who was a few steps back, eyes wide in fear. "We had the whole heights thing during the Second Phase, this is so unfair!"

"Plus it would be suicide…" Kurapika adds.

We hear a smug chuckle, and turn around.

"Maybe for a normal person." The guy who had said that was wearing a grey tang top, a chunky brown belt, and black pants. He had the number 86 pined to his top. He was also wearing green fingerless gloves.

To my surprise he easily starts to climb down the tower. "But a top-class rock climber can handle this, no problem!" How he was clutching on to the wall only using those tiny cracks as hand holds is anybody's guess.

Saber looks like he's going to be sick, he covers his eyes with his hands. "Ugh, I can't watch. Tell me if he dies or not."

"Wow…" Killua exclaims, as we watch him crawl down.

"He's going down pretty fast." Agrees Gon.

A minute or so passes by, and by then Saber had finally gotten the guts to peer down the edge and watch the man climb down. But by the green colour on his face I was nervous he would accidently barf on him or something…

"Uh…what's that sound?" I ask, raising my head at the strange flapping noise. The others start to look around too.

"Oh no…" Saber groans, and quickly takes a few steps back, shaking.

I glance back down at the climber guy, and my eyes widen in horror. "Oh shit!" I gasp, and the others glance down too.

The strange flapping noise was coming from…I didn't even know what they were. They were large, and red, and had large wings. Also it had tiny tufts of hair on it's head, and they had four-no, six arms! And they had huge heads and black eyes, and very large mouths, with very large teeth.

The climber guy starts to panic. "No! Stay away!"

We all stare in horror, unless we suddenly gained the ability to fly, there was nothing we could do.

Suddenly one of the giant red…whatevers… flies up and grabs the guy in its mouth. I yell in fear as it flies right past and over our heads, the guy's scream growing fainter and fainter as it flies away.

"G-guess we can't climb down the side…" Stutters Leorio.

"Yeah." Kurapika nods.

Saber breathes out a sigh of relief, even if he looks like he just pissed his pants.

**oOoOo**

I'm not really sure how much time had passed, maybe an hour? But I was slowly realizing that they're were less and less people on top of the tower every minute. What? But how?

"What's wrong?" Leorio asks me as I glance around again.

"Why is there less people than before?" I ask.

"I noticed it too…" Adds Kurapika.

"What?" Both Leorio and Kurapika look around. Gon and Killua had wondered off somewhere.

"I count twenty-three." Kurapika continues. "Which suggests almost half of the applicants have already found an exit."

"No way. When did they do that?" Leorio asks.

"And how? Ugh!" I groan. "We're going to be stuck here forever! I can't take this stupid sun anymore…" I hand my head low, sighing. I swear I could already feel a sunburn coming on. I was going to end up looking like a lobster.

"That means there must be some hidden doors that lead below." Kurapika theorizes.

"Yah, but where?" I wonder. "It's not like they're a sign with 'Hey secret door right here!' Or something." The only interesting thing about the top of the tower was the pattern on the ground; it kind of looked like some sort of jigsaw puzzle.

"Kurapika, Leorio, Talin, Saber!" We hear Gon call out.

"What is it Gon?" Kurapika asks as we walk over.

"Look. I found a hidden door." He crouches to the ground and when he pushes on one of the blocks of ground it gets pushed down a bit. But when he lets go it goes back up.

"Woah!" I crouch down, staring at the block like it's got all the answers.

"I see now." Kurapika says. "So we can descend by flipping the stones."

"Okay!" Leorio claps Gon on the back. "Great job, Gon! Let's head on down!"

"But I'm confused." Gon says.

"Why?" Saber asks.

"There are also hidden doors here, here, there, there, there, there and over there." He explains while pointing.

"Uh…" I whirl my head around trying to follow his finger, but every block looked the same.

"That many?" Leorio mutters.

"Seven hidden doors, located in the same area." Kurapika puts a hand on his chin, thinking hard. "It sounds suspicious to me. Some could be traps."

I gulp, thinking of the possible danger I was about to jump into. Casually I take a small step back from the trap door.

"And it looks as though each door can be used only once…" Killua adds.

"Seriously?" Leorio exclaims.

"We had tried opening a door someone else had used," Explain Killua. "But it wouldn't budge."

"Judging by the door's size, only one can fit at a time." Kurapika observes.

"In other words, only one person can use each door." Killua realizes. "We'll have to split up."

I sigh. Aw man, and just when I was starting to like these guys.

"Gon and I decided that we're going to choose a door." Killua says.

"No hard feelings if one of us springs a trap!" Gon adds.

I don't know, if I get, like, impaled or something I'm going to be pissed. Not really at them per say, but I'm definitely going to be pissed at my rotten luck at the very least.

"What are you guys going to do?" He asks us.

"I can live with that, luck is part of the game." Leorio nods.

I sigh again. "Well, it's either this, or stay up here and fry in the sun. I'll take my chances with a trap door."

"As long as I don't have to scale down the tower…" Saber mutters.

"I have no objection." Kurapika declares. Huh. You know, that guy speaks kind of formally. Maybe it's a Kurta Clan thing? Or maybe it's just him.

"Then that settles it." Kurapika nods.

We all walk over to the trap doors that Gon had pointed out. (In my case, tried too, Gon had to tell me again where it was.)

"Let's go, on the count of three." Leorio says.

"I guess this is goodbye for now." Gon says.

"We'll meet up again, at the tower's base." Kurapika agrees.

"Hopefully…" I mutter. Always the pessimist.

"Talin," I glance up at Saber, who was a few feet away from me. He tries to keep his voice low so the others won't here, but it was kind of hard considering they were just a few feet away. "If I don't make it…"

"Well with that attitude." I try to joke, but he just glares at me.

"Look, if I don't…tell Jett I said sorry, okay?"

I cross my arms, an eyebrow raised. "If you don't make it, he'll go to the afterlife, find your sorry ghost ass, bring you back to life, and then kill you himself."

Saber laughs. "That would be like him…"

The others give us confused stares, but I ignore them.

"Uh…okay. Lets go!" Killua announces. "One."

"Two!" Gon yells.

I tense, waiting. Oh boy, here we go…

"THREE!" We all yell and at the same time we jump on a block.

For a split second nothing happens, then…

**CRASH!**

"Ah!" I groan in pain, I fell badly and landed up toppling over on to my back. Well, at least I wasn't impaled.

I hear someone cursing in pain on my left, and I raise my head. "Wha-Saber?!"

I see a curled up body on the ground, rubbing it's head. He looks at me. "What the?!"

"Huh?"

I turn at Leorio's voice, and to my surprise I see everyone else. Kurapika, Gon, and Killua had all landed on their feet… the rest of us weren't so lucky. And it seems like Leorio had landed on his face…ouch. And just when his cheek was getting better.

"Huh? What?" Leorio says again, looking at us widely.

I can't help but laugh at his face. "Leorio, you're face is all red!"

"Well I did hit it!" He grumbles, getting up.

Gon and Killua laugh at each other.

"That was quite a brief farewell." Kurapika jokes, as he get's up.

I also stand up, but Saber stays on the ground in a sitting position.

"Oh, so all the doors led to the same room…" Leorio comments.

"So that's why they were all close together." I stretch a bit, trying to get the ache out of my back.

I notice Gon walking towards a metal cylinder pedestal on the back of the wall, above it was a sign. Saber get's up and follows me and the others to it.

Gon starts to read the sign. "The seven of you must follow the will of the majority to reach the goal."

"Seven of us?" Leorio repeats.

Unless I sucked at counting, I was pretty sure there were only six of us…uh oh.

"Look." Gon picks up an object of the pedestal. "There are seven stop watches."

We each grab one, and I look closely at it. It was counting down from 75 hours, and right now was at 71 hours, 19 minutes, and 1 second. Below the numbers were a X and a O button.

"There's an X and a O button." Killua says.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." I can't help but snark.

His eye twitches. "You're welcome, Sergent Sarcasm!"

I raise an eyebrow. "Oooh, touché."

"Could it be that we won't be able to leave this room, until another person drops in?" Kurapika ponders.

"…Crap." Saber looks up, like someone might just magically pop in.

"That is correct!"

I jump at the sudden voice, Kurapika whirls around, and we all stare at the speaker that was on top of the wall to our right.

"Who's that?!" Leorio barks.

"My name is Lippo." The voice says, coming from the speaker. "I am the prison warden, here. As well as the Third Phase examiner."

"Prison Warden?" Kurapika repeats.

"Multiple routes through this tower have been prepared." Lippo explains. "You have chosen the path of majority rule. Cooperation will be key if you wish to clear this phase of the exam."

Huh. Well, I wasn't too worried. I had been hanging out with these guys enough to call them friends by now. Getting thrown into life or death situations can really make you bond.

"One person's selfish behavior can derail an entire group. And you can't start until you have 7 members."

As long as the next person who shows up isn't a complete asshole, we might actually get through this!

"Best of luck, gentleman! …And lady!"

"…Thanks?" I mutter.

We hear a click and the speaking stops.

Leorio sighs, exasperated. "We can't move on until someone else arrives?" He puts his hands on his hips. "What do we do?"

I shrug. "The only thing we can do, wait."


	8. Let the battle begin

An hour goes by, I'm content just sitting against the wall, drawing the others. Saber is sitting next to me, fiddling with another little machine of his. Wow this is exactly like what happened in the beginning of the exam.

Leorio keeps sighing, and changing positions trying to get comfortable on the cold hard ground. Kurapika is sitting against the wall…and that's it. Does boredom not affect that guy or something?

Killua was fiddling with Gon's fishing rod, while Gon rode around on Killua's skateboard. I had actually tried his skateboard to, ten minutes ago. That's how I added even more bruises to my ever growing collection. After the fifth time I fell on my but I had grudgingly given it to Gon, who was skateboarding like a pro in 2 minutes.

I sigh at my lack of skill at anything sport like, and sketch, humming.

"Meat too tough, I wanna ride a bus…" I murmur quietly.

"Bus too full, I wanna ride a bull." Saber suddenly starts singing with me.

I glance up and we smile.

"Alright, wanna?" I ask, putting my sketchbook down.

He nods, putting his stuff down. We both face each other, siting down. Our hands are in front of us raises, hands clasped together.

"What? What are you doing?" Gon asks curiously, as he pauses rolling around.

"It's a clapping game." I explain.

Saber and I both starts doing the movements, clapping each other's hands in synchronization, we start singing.

"Winston smells good, like a coconut, like a-ooh, ah I wanna piece of pie!" We sing the ridiculous lyrics happily.

"Pie too sweet, I wanna piece of meat! Meat too touch, I wanna ride a bus! Bus too full I wanna ride a bull!"

By the end of the song everyone was staring at us, mostly in confusion, but Killua and Gon looked interest.

"Birdy too slow, and that's all I know! So close your eyes, count to ten, whoever messes up starts it over again!" We both close out eyes and start counting down, the only noise in the room was the clapping our our hands and our voices.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!" We open our eyes.

"We didn't mess up so that is the end!" On the final word we clap our hands, and stop, laughing.

"Heh, haven't done that in a while." Saber chuckles.

I nod, smiling.

"Hey, hey, what was that? Teach me!" Gon insists, and I laugh again.

"It's a clapping game that was popular back home, we learned it from other kids. I can try to teach you if you want but it's kind of complicated."

"I want to learn!" He says determined, plopping to the ground in front of me he sits cross legged, face serious.

I nod, smiling. "Well, alright, first things first…"

oOoOo

Another hour goes by, filled with the strange song and the sound of clapping hands. After a while Gon finally caught on, and was becoming pretty good. Killua kept forgetting the lyrics and getting frustrated. Kurapika and Leorio don't join in, but seem to be enjoying the nonsense anyways. But as time passes the atmosphere get's tense.

"Oh, come on!" Leorio suddenly cries out. "It's been two hours!" He stands up, guess he got tired of watching the clapping game. It was probably for the better, while Gon was having fun, Killua was starting to look like he wanted to strangle somebody.

"What is the others all took different routes?" He complains. "Only a fool would still be at the top of the tower!" He slams a fist into his hand. Whoa, he was getting worked up.

"Calm down Leorio." Kurapika says. Ever the peacemaker. "Complaing won't help."

"Yah, that's probably true. But we can't do anything about it." I shrug.

"But…" Leorio says. "What if no one shows up before we reach our time limit?"

"Maybe everything got messed up when that climber guy died…" Saber's face goes pale at the memory. "Maybe he was supposed to be the one here with us."

I groan. "If that's the case…we're never getting out of here!"

"Shhh!" I glance at Kurapika, who has his fingers to his lips. Wha-?

"That sound…" He whispers. Everyone pauses as we hear a faint tapping noise from above.

One of the blocks starts to move, and we walk towards it. Though I make sure to stay a few feet back, in case if someone comes through they won't fall on me.

BAM!

A giant ball of blue collapses on to the ground, and I jump back, startled.

The person groans. "Good grief."

"Oh no…" I mutter, staring in horror. Honestly, I think I would have preferred anyone but him…well besides the clown freak…and the guy with nails…

"Not you!" Saber groans, burying his face in his hands.

"Tonpa-san!" Gon greets him.

The others don't look as happy.

"Oh…" Killua says staring disinterested.

"It's the old man…" Leorio grumbles.

"That's funny coming from you." I can't help but say. Seriously my mouth needs a filter.

"Hey!" he stamps his foot. "I'm not old! I'm nineteen!"

"So you've told us." Saber joins in on the conversation, as Tonpa grabs the remaining watch. "But you still look old."

"Yah…" I stare at Leorio, a hand on my chin. "Maybe do something about the clothes…"I wave my hand at his suit, then my eyes travel to his face. "And maybe the glasses…"

"And maybe the everything." Saber adds.

Leorio's eye twitches. "Why you-!"

I laugh as he lunges for us and I dodge to the side.

"Ah! Leorio! Chill!" Saber yells, as he chases him around in circles.

Before Leorio can strangle him, part of the wall opens up. He pauses, as the opening reveals a door.

"I see." Kurapika says as we walk towards it. On the door was a screen with X and O on it, and words above it. "So the door appears once seven people arrive and put on the stopwatches."

Gon starts to read the words written on the screen. "At this door, select O to open, X not to open."

"Forcing us to use majority rule already?" Leorio says, surprised. "The answer should be obvious."

We all press the buttons. But on the screen it shows 6 O's and 1 X.

"Huh?" Saber and I both exclaim.

"Who pushed the X button?" Leorio asks, looking at each of us.

"I think I can guess…" I glare at Tonpa, who scratches the back of his head awkwardly.

"Ha ha, sorry that was me. I pressed the wrong button by mistake."

"Like hell you did!" I yell, but Leorio beats me to it.

"Stop screwing around old man!" Saber takes a surprised step back as Leorio grabs onto Tonpa's collar.

"Are you blind?!" He shoves his face close to Tonpa's.

"Like I said, it was an accident." Tonpa grumbles.

"How can you accidently press the wrong button?! EH?!" Leorio yells. I was with him on this one, if he started beating up Tonpa, I wasn't going to stop him.

"It doesn't matter." Gon interjects, trying to get between them. "The door opened."

"No, it does matter!" Leorio argues, still not letting go of Tonpa. "This guy deliberately pressed the wrong button…"

"Let's go. We don't have time to bicker." Kurapika points out.

"That's right." Killua agrees. "Even if he keeps pressing the wrong one, the rest of us just need to press the right one."

I follow the others through the door, shrugging at Leorio. He glares at Tonpa, but let's go. "Fine."

"Okay let's go!" Tonpa cries, pushing past me.

Both Leorio and I glare at him. "Damn-!"

We had just entered the room to see another screen. That was fast. There were two hallways on the left and the right, but they were blocked by bars.

"Another question so soon?" Leorio grumbles.

"Which way do you want to go?" Gon reads the screen again. "O for right, X for left."

We glance both ways, they looked the same. Small, dark, and not very inviting. Great.

"Uh..." I pick O.

The screen shows us. 4 O's, 3 X's.

"Huh?!" Leorio exclaims. "W-why would you choose to go right?"

I raise an eyebrow. "I just like O's better, what's the big deal?"

"B-but normally you would go left!"

"You do?" First time I've heard of it.

"That is true." Kurapika nods. "Studies have indicated that people who are lost or stuck at forks unconsciously tend to go left."

"I've heard that before too." Killua adds.

"Wait! The numbers don't add up! Which button did you press?" Leorio asks.

"Right." Kurapika, Killua, and I all say. Kurapika and Killua walk on.

"Y-you guys…" Leorio stares at them.

"That's why they chose to go right. To outfox the examiner." Tonpa explains.

Not me. But hey, they didn't need to know that. I nudge Saber. "Did you pick left?"

He nods, looking a little ashamed.

"If the examiner knows that people tend to go left, the left path will be more difficult." Tonpa continues.

I can see Leorio getting annoyed and I sigh. "Thanks Tonpa for that little tin bit of information." I mutter sarcastically.

"Just trying to help." He smiles, and walks on.

I growl and follow after him. Just trying to help, my foot!

We walk around the halls for a while. Kurapika was at the front, then Killua, then Me, next was Gon, Saber Leorio, and Tonpa. We reach the end of the hallway, and walk out onto a platform.

"W-what is this place?" Leorio asks, looking around.

In front of us was another large platform, and on every corner there was a torch. And on the side there was a screen. I don't know how we were going to get there though, since it was separate from our platform. Saber keeps behind me, nervously staring at the edge of the platform, where it dropped down into darkness. Behind us a few feet inside the hallway, a bunch of bars suddenly descend from the ceiling to the floor, blocking us off.

"Look over there." Killua suddenly says.

I look forwards and notice a platform on the other side too, attached to the wall. I could make out in the shadows a bunch of figures with cloaks standing there, they had handcuffs on their wrists. Suddenly the shackles to one of the cloaked figures opens up and falls to the ground. The figure rubs its wrists, then it takes off it's cloak revealing that it was in fact a he. He was wearing a tight light grey tang top, and brown pants. He was bold and had a scarred head, and looked pretty ripped.

"Who the hell is that guy?" I blurt out.

Saber smacks me in the head.

"Ow!" I cry, clutching my head. I really didn't need any more bruises.

"Read the atmosphere, Talin!" He growls. I look around, everyone was really tense.

I glare. "I still want answers!"

Suddenly a voice speaks out from what sounds like an intercom again. "Allow me to explain, dear."

"Don't call me dear." I mumble under my breath, my eye twitching.

"Before you are some of Trick Tower's prisoners." The voice, which I now remembered was called Lippo, says.

"Prisoners?" Kurapika repeats.

We all glance warily at the big guy across from us. He was tough looking.

"The Hunter Exam Committee has officially hired them as examiners."

Saber's eye twitches. "Are you kidding me…"

"You will be fighting against the 7 of them." Where was Lippo's voice coming from? I couldn't see a speaker. Was it hidden?

"The fights will be one-on-one. Each person may only fight once. You are free to use any methods you wish, there will be no draws."

I bite my lip nervously. I wasn't great at fighting, I mean I knew some moves from Jett but it wasn't my specialty. And what does he mean by any methods we wish? Oh geez, oh geez, oh geez, I was getting nervous.

"A win is declared when the opponent admits defeat." Lippo finishes.

The big, evil, scary looking dude on the other platform yells out to us. "You may pick your order. It's majority rule. So secure four wins, and you may pass. The rules are simple."

"Tsk." Leorio grits his teeth. "Majority rule again?"

"Well, I prefer straightforward rules." Killua shrugs. How was he so calm? Actually I could ask the same question to Kurapika…and Gon. What the hell guys, don't they understand the situation we're being thrown into?! It's like Battle Royale!

"I understand…" Kurapika mutters. "And we must reach the goal within seventy-two hours." He glances at his watch.

"So time will be critical during these fights." He adds.

"Ok, I'm up first." Scary guy declares. "Choose your combatant!"

"What should we do?" Killua asks, glancing at Gon. "He said that we can fight with any method. So that means that anything goes."

"We don't know what they'll try to pull…" Leorio mutters.

"There's too much at stake without knowing what they have up their sleeves." Kurapika agrees.

"Well then…anyone wanna go against evil egg head?" I ask nervously. Yep. That was me. My only weapon was sarcasm, and petty insults.

"Evil egg head?" Killua sweat drops.

"Given that, I shall-" Kurapika starts to say. My heart actually skips a beat, at the thought of Kurapika going against evil egg head.

"No, I'll go."

I swear my jaw was practically touching the ground as I stare in shock at Tonpa. "W-what…?"

Saber looked like he was going to faint. Again.

"Tonpa-san?" Gon exclaims.

"I'll act as a guinea pig, so we can discover what they're up to. Consider this an apology for before."

Woooahhhh… maybe he wasn't so bad after all…I was not expecting this…not at all.

"Hey, are you serious?" Leorio asks.

"Sure." He says confidently. "Plus, you guy's don't actually trust me, right."

Basically.

"Do you really want me to be the tiebreaker, when the score is 3-3?"

"…True…" I mutter.

"You have a point…" Leorio agrees, but still looks nervous.

"Then it's settled." Tonpa proclaims.

"Tonpa, you're…" Leorio doesn't finish his sentence.

Suddenly a stone bridge thing suddenly comes out of our platform and stretches all the way to the other larger platform. Saber takes one look at the small bridge, and looks ready to hurl.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I grab him and turn him around so he's facing somewhere else. "If you have to do it, do it over the side, not on me!"

Tonpa takes off his brown bag, and leaves it on the ground. Then he starts to walk across it.

"T-that was a surprise." Leorio murmers. "I didn't expect Tonpa to volunteer."

I nod. "No kidding."

"He called himself a guinea pig." Kurapika notes.

"Will Tonpa-san be okay?" Gona asks.

"Uh…" Saber and I glance at each other, both having skeptical looks on our faces, well Saber's was a bit more pale, but… this probably wouldn't end well.

"Now, let us determine the method of combat." Evil egg head demands. "I propose a death match."

"A death match?" Gon repeats.

"They fight until one dies?" Leorio mutters.

"Right off the bat…" Saber adds.

"Oh no…" I have to resist the urge to cover my eyes with my hands. I didn't want to see this!

"No…" Kurapika frowns. "Don't let him provoke you!" He calls out.

"Well?" Egg head says expectantly.

"Very well, I accept!" Tonpa declares.

"Ehhhh?!" I nearly fall of the edge. Seriously, I'm gonna die before I even get to battle, just from shock!

I wasn't the only one who was surprised. Everyone gasps.

"Seriously?!" Leorio cries.

"I commend you for your bravery!" Egg head says, getting into a stance.

They both raise their hands up, getting ready. You could cut the tension with a knife.

Kurapika frowns, not looking happy at the situation. He wasn't the only one, sure, I hate Tonpa. But I didn't want to see him die!

"T-Tonpa…" Leorio stutters.

"Let the fight begin!" Egg head jumps high into the air, soaring right towards Tonpa.

"Oh god!" I raise a hand to my mouth, my eyes widening.

"I-I GIVE!" Tonpa yells, falling to the ground on to his knees.


	9. The Rookie Crusher Revealed

"Huh?" Killua says.

"What?" Leorio asks.

"Did he just give up?" Gon asks innocently.

"N-no way…" Saber mumbles.

"M-maybe he meant 'Give me a sec'?" Leorio puts in.

"What did you just say?" Egg Head asks.

"You win if I admit defeat, right?" Tonpa looks up. "I give up…" He bows his head again. "I lose!" He laughs nervously.

"Wha…wha…wha…" Leorio stutters, looking pissed.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" I scream, wishing I could jump onto the platform and strangle Tonpa.

Weirdly, Egg Head starts to laugh. "All right. I win this round."

A screen above us on the wall switches from zero to one. "If we win three more rounds, you lose. You won't be able to advance or turn back. You'll be stuck here until the seventy-two hours are up. Should that come to pass, our sentences will be reduced by seventy-two years."

Evil Egg Head laughs again, and walks back on over to his side. Tonpa walks over to us too.

"Man, that was a disgrace. He looked a lot stronger up close…"

I'm about to reach on over and strangle him, when Leorio beats me to it. Again.

"Bastard!" Leorio grabs on to his collar, nearly lifting him up. "You just confirmed all my suspicions!"

"What is wrong with you?!" I growl, pointing a finger at him.

"Seriously, you jackass!" Saber agrees.

"You're a worthless piece of trash, who's only good for sabotaging other applicants!" Leorio exclaims.

"Exactly." Tonpa agrees. "That's what I do every year. And I plan to continue the tradition."

"W-what?!" Leorio stutters, glaring daggers at him.

I pause, something starting to nag me…no way…it couldn't be…

"I'm not looking to pass the Hunter Exam." Tonpa exclaims, looking pretty calm, considering his situation. "I'm only in it for the thrills."

"The thrills?!" Saber repeats, fists clenched.

"Yes." Tonpa looks at us, a sick smile on his face. "The Hunter Exam is a trial meant to crush confident young people's dreams. The moment of despair, when ambition and hope give way, gives me a sense of exquisite pleasure."

I can feel the blood draining from my face as I remember some of the advice Jett had given us after he had become a Hunter, before he left. He had told us a few things, the usual stuff, be careful, it's dangerous, bla, bla, but he had also said something about rookie crushers…

"Especially when I'm actively shattering these rookies' dreams. I don't plan on becoming a Hunter. I've already had enough fun this year, it's time for me to bow out."

"You bastard!" Leorio raises a fist.

"Stop it, Leorio!" Kurapika interrupts.

"You guys don't know the joy of crushing a newbies dreams…" Tonpa continues. I felt sick. Jett's words starting to come back to me.

_This rookie crushers, they're despicable. Only like hurting other for their own pleasure._

"I remember last year when I sent this one rookie into a garden full of carnivorous plants, I had told him it was a healing garden. Sucker!"

_They gain your trust, and use it against you. I had nearly died during my exam because of one._

"And the year before that I had tweaked one of the newbies equipment, so when he tried to fight off a gorilla that was attacking, his sword broke apart!"

_I had been stupid to trust him. No one is ever kind in the exams. I was lucky I just got away with a few scars…_

"And then one year there was a maze exam, I nearly killed this one annoying rookie guy. He had light blue hair, and I sent him off in the wrong direction, heard him screaming when he came upon one of the slug monsters. Too bad he survived that though."

_The guy who tricked me…his name was Tonpa. Be careful of him, alright?_

"YOU BASTARD!" I scream. Before I even know what's happening, my fist had already made contact with the guy's face.

"YOU JACKASS! YOU MONSTER!" I completely lose it, I try to tackle him but something was holding me back.

I turn, and I see Kurapika, he had an arm around my waist, and was holding on to my right fist. "Get a hold of yourself!" He yells as I squirm.

I can see in the corner of my eye Killua and Gon struggling to hold back Saber, who had come to the same realization I had. Leorio and Tonpa both just stand still, surprised at our sudden violent acts. Tonpa's face was slowly reddening from my punch. Good, but he deserved more.

"HE TRIED TO KILL JETT!" Saber and I both scream.

"Jett?" Kurapika, Gon, Killua, and Leorio all repeat.

"He deserves this! Let me go!" Saber yells again, tugging against Gon and Killua.

"Oh, so the blue guy is your friend?" Tonpa realizes, grinning.

Dammit! I should have realized sooner! Tonpa, that's why the name seemed familiar! That's why I thought I knew him in the beginning! He's one of the reasons Jett nearly died!

"Let go Kurapika!" I practically snarl, squirming.

He just tightens his hold. "I understand why you're angry, but this is what they want! They want us to waste time fighting amongst ourselves!"

"I don't care!" I holler.

"Don't let your emotions control you!" Kurapika yells back.

After a few more minutes, I finally start to calm down. No longer was anger clouding my vision. "…Fine." I stop struggling.

"WHAT?!" Saber screams.

I turn to him, ignoring Tonpa's evil smirk. "Don't misunderstand me. He will pay. We don't have time now, but he will. Later."

Tonpa's smirk quickly drops. Good. Let him be afraid.

"You can let go now, Blondie." I turn to look up at Kurapika. He doesn't look completely convinced I'm not about to try to throttle Tonpa, but he let's go.

I scowl and Tonpa, and cross my arms. Tonpa casually inches away from us.

"You know… if their goal is to by time, then the old man made the correct choice." Killua notes.

"What?" Saber growls.

"That bald guy is probably a former soldier or mercenary." Killua explains, turning to Tonpa. "Had you fought him, he would have started by crushing your throat, so you couldn't have given up."

Tonpa quickly looks like he's going to be sick. All I can feel is disappointment that Evil Egg Head didn't have the chance to do just that. I'm a nice person. I swear. But mess with my friends and I'll give you no mercy.

"Then he would have tortured you without killing you," Killua continues. "For the rest of the remaining time."

Tonpa slowly turns his head back to Leorio. "Th-that was one of the possibilities I took into consideration."

Leorio, Kurapika, Saber, and I, all just give him disbelieving stares.

"You look sick." Leorio notes.

A strange clacking sound draws my attention away. I glance across the room and see another cloaked figure had just gotten out of his shackles. He takes off his cloak, he looked skinnier than the other guy. He also had brown hair, and bangs that covered one eye.

"Regardless, we need to win four rounds and advance." Kurapika says.

"Who's going next?" Killua asks.

Hm…maybe I should take these guy, he looked kind of weak. Though he was at Trick Tower for a reason so…

"Me! I'll go!" Gon says, taking the decision out of my hand. He raises his hand up like it's roll call or something.

There's a few seconds of surprised silence, before Leorio puts his hands on his hips. "Are you sure?"

"Uh huh!" Gon says confidently.

"The next opponent doesn't look too strong." Killua notes.

I guess it was for the best Gon took this guy, he was only 12.

"But you can't let your guard down." Leorio warns.

"Right, he's in here for a reason." I agree.

"Uh huh, I know." Gon puts down his backpack and fishing pole, and walks over the bridge to the platform.

"Now then…" The prisoner guy starts to talk. "As you can see, I'm not very strong. I don't really enjoy fist fights, or other physical activities, such as running and jumping."

"Why is he listing his weaknesses?" Saber leans over to whisper to me, confused.

I whisper back. "Maybe he's trying to making himself appear weaker to trick Gon?"

"Well I guess we're going to find out." He nods towards the stage and I look back.

"I do. But I'm not good at using my head." Gon admits.

"Gon!" I hiss.

"You're not supposed to admit your weaknesses either!" Saber complains.

"As I thought." Prisoner guy says. "So I came up with a simple game we could both play."

"A game?" Gon repeats.

"Yes." Prisoner guy replies. "It doesn't rely on either mental or physical activity."

I snort. "What's he going to do? Beat Gon at tick, tack, toe?"

Saber chuckles. "It would fit the whole X and O thing."

"Right, right." I nod smiling, my anger at Tonpa forgotten.

"Can you two shut up?" Killua asks us, a anger mark twitching on his forhead.

"Sorry." We both sweatdrop.

I notice Kurapika smiling in relief. What? But when he notices me looking, he quickly schools his face back into that annoying poker face.

"What kind of game?" Gon asks.

He grabs something from behind him, he probably had a bag or something, and I tense. What was it? A knife? A GUN?!

He brings out two candles.

…Not expecting that.

"We each light a candle at the same time. The one whose candle goes out first is the loser." He explains. "What do you think?"

"Yeah!" Gon agrees enthusiastically. "That's easy to understand, let's go with that!" He gives a thumbs up.

"That's way too simple…" I mutter, instantly suspicious.

Leorio nods. "He must have something up his sleeve…"

"Okay, in that case…" Before he had been holding the candles by the ends, but now he lifts off some fingers to reveal one candle was longer than the other.

"I knew it!" I can't help but exclaim.

"Decide which candle you want to use." Creepy candle guy drawls. "Press O for the long one, or X for the short one. This will be determined by majority rule."

"We have to choose one?" Leorio mutters, looking intently at the candles. "This is a trap! Normally you'd choose the long one, so he must have done something to it!"

"That would be the safe assumption." Kurapika interjects. "But it might be a trick, and he's actually tampered with the short one."

"When you put it like that…" Leorio grumbles.

"Yes, there's no end." Kurapika remarks.

"You've got a real dilemma there." Tonpa says cheekily, I tense.

"You keep your mouth shut!" Leorio snarls.

"Yeah, yeah." Tonpa shrugs. I keep my eyes fixed on the platform. It was taking all of my will power not to just push the guy off the edge.

"When presented with a clearly uneven choice, people become suspicious and hesitate before deciding." Kurapika says. I had a feeling he was about to spew a bunch of scientific stuff. Because that's just what he does. I had to hand it to Blondie, the guy was smart…though I wasn't about to admit that.

"Yes, this is a real dilemma." He continues. (Knew it!) "What's worse, if you make the wrong choice, the resulting mental anguish would be much greater than if the problem had offered two fair options."

Creepy candle guy just lounges on the ground, looking totally relaxed. Asshole. "Take your time." He says. "This may be a majority decision, but you're free to discuss it. We have plenty of time."

"Maybe you do, but we don't!" I growl, losing my patience. I groan, throwing my hands in the air. "Guys, this is useless! Discussing about the stupid candles won't make this easier!"

"Hmm, hey, which one should I choose?" Gon calls out.

"Damn…which one should we take." Leorio hisses.

I notice Kurapika frowning, as he closes his eyes. He opens them and glances at me, looking like he had decided something.

"Gon!" He yells back. "You decide! We'll abide by your decision. Choose the one you think is best."

"You sure?" Saber asks nervously.

"He never thinks things through." Killua adds.

Kurapika nods. "Talin was right."

I blink in surprise.

"I was?"

"She was?"

I glare at Saber, who laughs nervously. "H-hey, you said the same thing!"

"Well yah, but it's _me_, doubting _me_! It's different!"

"It is useless, fretting about and wasting our time won't help our chances." Kurapika ignores us. "Let's rely on Gon's instincts."

"Instincts, huh…" Killua mutters, not looking very convinced.

"Oh yeah, that boy's got good senses and stuff." I nod, remembering. "He tracked Leorio once just by his cologne."

"Huh?" Leorio glances at me. "What? When did that happen?"

"Whe-" I stop when I see Kurapika's pointed look. Oh shit, right, Leorio wasn't supposed to know anything about the whole him getting beat up by clown freak thing.

"Uh…it…didn't. I was mistaken, sorry." I give out a nervous laugh, rubbing my head. Leorio doesn't look convinced, and is about to say something but Gon cuts him off.

"I get to choose?" Gon says happily. "Okay! Then I choose the long one!"

"You want the long candle?" Candle guy repeats.

"Because a longer candle will burn a longer time!" Gon innocently says, smiling.

…

"Er, he's taking it at face value?" Leorio mutters.

I face palm.

"I knew he wouldn't think this through." Killua sighs.

Saber groans, raising his eyes upward. "I swear if we somehow get through this…"

"Well that's that…" Kurapika presses the O button on his watch. The rest of us do the same.

"It's not like we can figure out which one is the trap…" Leorio agrees.

The screen shows the results. 5 O's, and no X's.

"Okay, you get the long one." Candle guys, throwing the candle to Gon. "I'll take the short one."

The torches on the corners start to make a whirring sound, and sink into the stage a bit so they are shorter. Candle guy walks towards one.

"Now, we light our candles together." He puts the candle in the flame; Gon copies him, going to the torch nearest him.

Than they walk back to where they were standing before…and then they just stand there. Waiting.

"Wow, you know the last thing I expected on the Hunter Exam was boredom…" I murmer. After ten minutes had gone by I had decided to sit down in the little hallway area.

"Usually, how long would it take candle to burn down?" Killua asks.

"Forever and ever…" Saber sarcastically mutters.

Kurapika rolls his eyes. "Five to six hours?" he estimates.

"So basically forever and ever." Saber groans, rolling over and smushing his face into the ground.

A strong breeze blows up from below past the platform, and Gon carefully wraps a hand loosely around the flame as a shield. Creepy candle guy does the same thing, but he doesn't look bothered at all. Actually, he was smiling. What?

"A strong wind is coming from below." Leorio states. "That means we should watch our step. No time to relax, huh…"

I yawn, sleepily staring at my feet. This must suck for Gon, who has to stand. At least I can sit down.

"If you don't pay attention, your candle will go out." Candle guy mocks. I listen with only one ear, not really paying attention.

Creepy Candle guy and Gon chat a bit, Gon accuses him of preparing to do something sneaky, because his candle was going to go out first. Creepy candle guy just denies the statement, saying something about how he doesn't have to because he had already taken steps.

Hm…wait…

I sleepily raise my head, but when I hear Gon's cry of alarm, I instantly shoot to my feet. Saber quickly rolls on to his back and get's up too.

"What?!" I step beside Kurapika so I can have a better view, and to my horror I see Gon's flame suddenly waaaay bigger than it should have been!

"Hey, Look at Gon's candle!" Leorio mutters. Don't know why, we could all see it. "The flame suddenly became stronger!"

"He must have hidden gunpowder or some other highly flammable substance inside, to make the candle burn faster!" Kurapika theorizes.

"Oh maaaan…Gon be careful!" Saber cries out uselessly, as we watch Gon struggle to hold on to the candle.

"At this rate, his candle will only last two or three minutes." Killua reckons.

"Damn!" Leorio yells. "Hey! That was dirty! I knew you tampered with the long candle!"

"But…what if Gon had picked the short one? He couldn't have known!" I state, confused.

"Maybe he tampered with it when he had passed Gon the candle, remember we couldn't see it for a few seconds when he put it behind his back." Saber puts in.

"I don't think he could be that fast…" I murmer.

For some reason Gon pauses, and smiles. He looks over at Candle man, who looks a little surprised at his sudden positive attitude.

"If the fire is stronger, then a little breeze wont extinguish it." He carefully places the candle on the ground.

"What i-" Before I can even finish my sentence Gon suddenly _rushes_ in front of his opponent, and blows out his candle!

"…WWWWOAAAAHHHH!" Saber yells, both his hands clutching his hair, I think my jaw was touching the ground. Even Creepy candle guy look shocked.

Gon looks over at us, and smiles, giving us a peace sign. "I win!"

"YAH!" Saber and I both cheer, and Leorio smiles.

"Yes!"

The bridge thing slides back into place, and Gon walks across to us.

"Yay! I won!"


	10. Blue VS Blondie

"Good job, Gon! Now we have a win!" Leorio congrats.

"That was fast!" I say, impressed.

"Once Kurapika and I win, we can advance." Leorio nods.

"Hey, what about us?" Killua, Saber, and I all yell. We glare at Leorio, who sweatdrops.

"Uh, uh…" He sens Kurapika a look, but he just raises an eyebrow.

Leorio turns back to us. "That's…just the order we agreed to! Kurapika and I are next!"

"Since when did we agree to that?!" Killua, Saber, and I all scream.

A clanking noise draws my attention away, as I look over and notice one of the cloaked prisoners had been un-cuffed. Maybe it the lighting or something but…were his arms…blue?!

"All right." Kurapika walks forwards towards the edge. "I'll go next."

"Eh, okay…be careful." I warn, watching as he crosses over. I felt kind of nervous for him, I mean, I know he could take care of himself. But still…who knew what freak he was about to face?

Once he and the opponent are on the platform, the bridges draw themselves in again. I really didn't think it was the light, I was sure that the other guy's arms were blue…what…?

"…Am I going colour blind?"

"Huh? What makes you say that?" Leorio asks.

"Because…is that guy's arms blue?" I point.

Just as I finish saying that, the guy grabs his cloak and rips it off, unveiling…

"Nope…not colour blind…though I sort of wish I were blind right now…" I mutter in horror.

Saber looked like he was going to be sick, and Leorio had this grossed out look on his face. The blue guy was, in fact, all blue. Which was freaky all in itself, like what, did he dye himself? But also his face…was just messed up! One of his eyes looked sore or something, the eyelids were pulled halfway down, and were purple. One of his ears had this metal thingy over it, he had green hair…bandages…scars…NO NOSE, just a freaking hole…tattoos of hearts on the right side of his chest..

"Kurapika…" I whisper, worried. Oh man, oh man!

"I'm next!" Blue guy declares proudly.

"That's one freaky body…" Leorio comments.

"And face." Killua adds.

"He looks like Frankenstein's ugly cousin!" I blurt out.

"Hey!" Big blue glares at me. Apparently he had good hearing, even if his ears were completely wrecked.

I make a strangled noise, and inch behind Leorio.

Big blue turns back to Kurapika. "Look here." He points at the heart tattoos.

"I've killed nineteen people, but it bugs me that nineteen is such an uneven number." He chuckles darkly. "I'm so glad I've met number twenty."

"Oh shit…" Saber mumbles.

My heart feels like it's in my throat. Oh god oh god oh god…

"Now we have a serial killer…" Leorio hisses.

"I insist that we put our lives on the line. I won't accept some half-assed contest."

I bite my nails, my stomach doing flip flops. What if he hurt Blondie, or worse?!

"Blood! Entrails! Agony!" Big blue cackles. If this continued all my nails were going to be bitten to the stub!

"Very well."

I nearly fall. But I quickly right myself.

"Blondie, are you INSANE?!" I yell, my fists clenched.

He ignores me, and continues talking. "You can decide how we settle this contest. I'll agree to your choice."

"Wh-wh-wh-wh…" I can't even speak.

Killua pokes my arm, then looks over at GOn. "I think she's broken."

"O-oh…" Big blue clenches his fists. "You've got balls. In that case, I also propose, a death match, where we fight until one of us surrenders or dies. However, don't expect me to stop when you surrender and beg for your life!" He laughs evilly, again.

"Very well, I accept."

I snap out of it. "Oh my god, HE'S SUICIDALE!" I shriek, waving my hands in the air in panic. I actually startle Killua, who jumps back, eyeing my waving hands.

Kurapika coolly whips off his blue cloth thingy. "Let us begin."

I currently, felt like I was having a heart attack.

"Oi, oi…" Killua stares at me nervously, as I hyperventilate.

WHAT IN THE HELL WAS KURAPIKA TRYING TO DO?! WAS HE TRYING TO KILL HIMSELF?!

"Hold on." Big blue holds out a hand in a stop gesture. "I forgot to mention something. No weapons allowed. We'll beat each other to death with our fists. After all, while I may be hired as an examiner, I am still a prisoner. I'm not allowed to carry weapons."

"I see. I understand." Kurapika takes off the two wooden swords that were hidden behind his back, and throw them on the floor next to his blue cloth-thingy.

"Anything else? If not, I'd like to get started."

"Uh, I think he left his sanity somewhere back there…" Saber murmers.

"I bet Buhara ate it." Killua jokes, as Gon tries to calm me down.

"It's okay Lin, Kurapika can beat him." Gon pats my back, murming reassuring words.

Saber raises an eyebrow at the 'Lin' nickname, but doesn't comment.

I nod, starting to breathe a little easier. "You're right Gon, I bet Blondie has this under con-"

Suddenly Big Blue crouches a bit, and he makes a sort of growling noise. And right before my misbelieving eyes, he get's even bigger! His muscles start to bulge, and he becomes, if you can believe it, even _more _terrifying!

"KURAPIKA!" I yell. This was really, _really _bad! Why wasn't he just forfeiting now?! What if he got beaten to a pulp?! I don't want to see him beaten to a pulp!

I think Kurapika does turn back at this, looking a little surprised. But he quickly turns back to Big Blue, trying to make sure his eyes stay on his opponent.

"Hey now, is Kurapika going to be okay?" Leorio asks worriedly. "This guy looks dangerous."

"I was thinking of something more along the lines of monstrous, but whatever floats your boat." Saber shrugs, but joking aside I could see how worried he was. For one thing, he had gotten closer to the edge, his fear for Kurapika's safety stronger than his fear of heights apparently.

"In what was does he look dangerous?" Killua calmly asks.

"Uh, in every way." I dead pan.

Killua just puts his hands behind his head, completely relaxed. "As far as I can tell, this guy's just a blowhard who doesn't have the guts to hit anyone, let alone kill anyone."

"You don't need to worry." Agrees Gon.

"Why not?" Leorio asks.

"Because when I look at him, I don't get chills." Gon says, like that explained everything.

"Well I do." Saber snorts.

"What does that mean?" Leorio bends down, hand on hips, eyeing Gon.

"Time to show you the ace up my sleeve!" Big blue declares, smiling evilly at Kurapika. Everything this guy did seemed evil.

Suddenly he leaps up, waaaay higher than a guy his size should be able to it, and yells "I'll see you dead!"

Leorio cries out. "Here he comes!"

I clamp a hand over my mouth, my eyes wide with horror. DODGE IT!

And he does, Kurapika leaps back, getting nipped by the flying rubble and skids to a halt. He is bended on the ground with one knee, as he surveys the damage.

"Wow…" Tonpa mutters.

"He made a hole in the floor with his bare fist!" Leorio gasps.

It was true, Big blue's punch had actually made a crater in the ground! What if that had been Kurapika's head?!

Big blue stands up and I immediately tense, guessing he was going to strike at Kurapika again. But to my surprise he just turns around…

"Oh no." I murmer, eyes widening at the tattoo on his back. It was a black spider. Kurapika's words suddenly spring to mind.

"_When I was 12 they were all brutally killed by a group called the Phantom Troupe. My Clan was sought for their scarlet eyes. They only shined scarlet when the owner was feeling extreme emotion. The Phantom Troupes' symbol is the spider."_

It couldn't be…it wasn't…no…

"A tattoo of a spider with twelve legs…" Leorio observes. "That's…"

"Yeah, I recognize it." Tonpa interjects. "Anyone aspiring to become a Hunter has heard of it. That's the symbol worn by members of that notorious band of evil thieves, the Phantom Troupe!"

You have to be kidding me. This monster was on the people who…my heart skips a beat. Was Kurapika going to be okay? This…this was too much.

"Really?" Gon looks up at Leorio, who nods.

"Yeah, definitely. They're famous. I heard about them straight from Kurapika."

I stare at Kurapika, who hadn't moved. My fists clench.

Kurapika gets to his feet, and my breath catches in my throat. I couldn't see his expression, but I could guess…

"What's wrong?" Big blue laughs, and I feel fierce anger inside me.

How _dare_ he taunt Kurapika! How dare he!

I step out from behind Leorio, and glare at Big Blue, but he doesn't notice.

"Cat got your tongue?" He continues, enjoying himself. "I'm Majitani, one of the Phantom Troupe's four kings! Consider that first strike my way of saying hello."

Kurapika doesn't move. I bite my lip.

"This is your last chance to surrender." Big blue informs. "I'm still willing to-huh?"

He stops speaking, looking confused. I could guess what had happened, Kurapika head was raised now.

"Wh-what's wrong with you?" He asks nervously.

I blink, were my eyes playing tricks on me or did Kurapika just vanish?

Suddenly Kurapika is in front of Blue, a hand clamp on his jaw he lifts him off the floor. _With one hand_.

"HOLY SHIT!" Saber cries.

I gulp, my hands shaking slightly.

"O-O-Okay!" Blue chokes out. "Wait! I get it! I surrender!"

**POW!**

Kurapika punches Blue into the ground, and I catch a glimpse of his eyes. I can hear Saber gasp beside me in confusion, I just stand still. I knew that look, Kurapika's eyes were bright red.

Kurapika leaps back, and lands on the ground, watching calmly as Big Blue bounces on the ground a bit before lying still.

Killua whistles.

"Consider this a warning…" Kurapika states, his voice full of suppressed anger. "First, a real Phantom Troupe tattoo has the member's number on the spider. Second, they don't bother counting how many they've killed. Third, never mention the Troupe again. If you do…"

He turns and glares down at his defeated opponent. I couldn't see his eyes, but a shiver still went up my spine.

"I'll kill you."

Everyone had different expressions, ranging from interest, to shock, to horror. I had seen Kurapika like this before, but only now did I realize how what happened before was only minor compared to this. W-What would happen if he ever met a real member?

"W-Wow." Tonpa comments.

"Kurapika..." Leorio mutters.

"Well, saw that coming from a mile away." Killua says.

"Yup." Gon agrees.

"Say what?!" Saber yelps.

"His opponent was obviously weak." Killua shrugs.

Saber gives him a dead pan look. "Oh, _obviously_."

Killua's eye twitches. "Are you being sarcastic?"

"Noooo, of course not!" Saber gives him a huge fake smile.

Killua glares at him, but before he can retaliate, Kurapika walks over. He had his blue cloth thing back on.

"You okay, Kurapika?" Leorio asks.

"Yeah," Kurapika replies, sounding a little out of breath. "I'm not injured."

"Uh, also…" Leorio sheepishly backs up a couple steps. "Is it safe for us to be near you?"

I feel a little annoyed at his comment, of course Kurapika wouldn't hurt us…ok true he had been a little, er, rough with the whole spider on the air ship thing… But he hadn't really hurt me! But this was Leorio's first time seeing him like this, and it was pretty extreme. I guess if I was in his shoes I would also be a bit wary…

Kurapika sighs, putting a hand on his forehead. "From the moment I saw him, I knew he was weak."

Saber inches a step closer to me, and whispers in my ear. "Ok was I the only one who thought he looked terrifying?"

I shrug. "Nope, but apparently everyone didn't think so."

Leorio and Gon lean closer as Kurapika talks.

"And mentally, I knew that tattoo was a fake. But as soon as I saw that spider…everything in my sight went red."

My hand rises slightly, and I wonder for a second if I should put a hand on his shoulder, try to comfort him. But I draw back. Killua gives me a questioning look, which I ignore.

Leorio stands back, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Well, I can't really blame you…"

Tonpa keeps well behind us, looking nervously at Kurapika.

"Actually, to tell the truth…" Kurapika continues. "Even when I see a real spider…"

For a second he glances at me, and I tense up.

"My personality changes, and I enter a frenzy...I can't control mysef, even when I want to."

The others just stare at him.

"Uhhh…" Saber laughs nervously, glancing around anxiously in case a spider happens to pop up.

"You should have told us sooner…" Leorio mutters.

Yep. I knew all about that. From experience.

Kurapika walks into the little hallway section, he slides to the ground, laying back against the wall. "But this means that, the rage in me remains as strong as ever…I suppose I should be happy"

"…Is that really a good thing…" I mutter to myself.

Gon whispers to Leorio. "We should keep Kurapika away from spiders."

"Definitely."

A minute passes or so passes when…

"Okay! I'll secure our victory!" Leorio declares, confidently taking a step towards the edge. "Toss out that guy, and send in your next competitor!"

"We can't do that." A feminine voice calls out.

"What's that?" Leorio growls.

"What are they talking about?" Saber asks.

"We can't move him yet, because his match hasn't been settled." She explains, walking towards the platform. I could tell she was female by her voice, but I didn't know what she looked like because she hadn't taken off the hood.

"The match hasn't been settled?" Leorio repeats. "What do you mean?"

She walks over to Big blue and crouches next to his body, he was facing the ground. "He's still alive. He was only knocked out."

"…Shit…" Saber mumbles.

"Did you forget?" The women continues. "This was a death match. The fight doesn't end until one contestant surrenders or dies. He's still alive, and he hasn't surrendered."

And with that said, she giggles and walks back to her companies.

Leorio crosses his arms, "Tsk, damned technicalities."

"But she's right." Killua adds.

"I agree." Gon nods.

I nervously glance over at Kurapika, who has not opened his eyes He had his face bowed to the floor. What was he supposed to do now? Just go over and…kill the guy? What? Just push him off the ledge or something? What the hell?!

"Oh man…" I whine sliding to the floor in a sitting position, opposite him.

"I see…" Leorio whirls around. "Hey Kurapika! Go finish off that worthless trash."

"I refuse." Kurapika stats, his expression doesn't change.

"Huh…Why?!" Leorio yells.

This time Kurapika does look up, his eyes open, but he isn't looking at anyone. It seems more like he's thinking to himself.

"The fight is over. He'd already lost his will to fight, when I punched him. I will not fight someone who's lost."

I could actually understand his reasoning, it was very honorable. Too bad Leorio didn't think the same way.

"Screw that!" He roars. "Then what do we do? They're claiming that the match hasn't ended!"

Kurapika just closes his eyes. "Let him handle that."

"Huh?!"

"Once he wakes up, we'll have our answer." Kurapika replies calmly.

"Hey now, we only have so much time left." Leorio points out. "We can't afford tojust sit and wait!"

I bite my nails again.

"I have no intention of killing him!" Kurapika refuses.

"Come on!" Leorio grouches.

"Hey, if you don't want to dirty your hands, I'll do it." Killua offers.

WHAT?!

"Hey, hey, do you really know what you would have to do?" Saber asks.

Killua nods, turning back to Kurapika. "You haven't ever killed anyone before, right?"

Kurapika just lets out a sigh.

"Are you scared?" Killua asks.

"This conversation just keeps on getting darker…" I mutter, wrapping my arms around my legs, as I watch.

"I have never considered whether murder is frightening. But this is a one on one battle. You aren't permitted to interfere." Kurapika points out.

"Okay, then…"Killua sighs, then looks up. "But we're working as a team, so you shouldn't be too selfish!"

By then I had stood up and walked over beside Saber, feeling a little stifled by the atmosphere.

"Is it really selfish to refuse murdering someone?" I whisper to Saber.

"What's wrong with these people…" He mutter back, sweat dropping.

"Oh! You do say useful things sometimes!" Leorio cries. "Keep it up!" He turns to Kurapika.

"Don't you understand that you're screwing up our chances?"

"I'm sorry." Kurapika says, not sounding at all sorry. "But I won't change my mind."

Leorio gets on his knees, leaning in Kurapika's face, who still isn't opening his eyes.

"You stubborn fool…" Leorio growls.

"Fine!" Leorio jumps up. "A majority decision, O to kill him, and X to leave him alive!"

"Wait…we can do that?" I blurt out, confused. My finger hovers over the X button, I wasn't going to force Kurapika to kill, no way, no how.

Saber shrugs. "News to me." His finger also hovers over the X button.

"Ready, and…" Leorio clicks a button, so do Saber and I, both of us still very confused by the sudden events.

The screen stays blank.

"Why isn't it working?!" Leorio yells.

"Oh, guess you can't…" I mutter.

"Maybe it's because we're asking the question?" Gon chimes in.

"Huh?" Leorio looks over at him.

Killua explains. "The watches only work for questions presented by the examiners."

Leorio grumbles. "I see…Okay!" He raises a hand.

"Then we'll use a show of hands."

"Geez…" Saber puts his face in his hands; I pat his back, knowing exactly how he feels.

Leorio ignores him. "Those who agree that he should be finished off…Now!"

Leorio's the only one who raises a hand.

He glares at us; I look away, feeling very uncomfortable about the whole thing.

He leans down and growls at Killua. "You traitor…weren't you just lecturing Kurapika with me? We're supposed to be a team…A team!"

"But it's pointless!" Killua argues. "He's not going to change his mind."

"Hey, Gon, Talin, Saber!" Leorio turns to us. "Why do you oppose killing him?"

"Kurapika's right." Thankfully Gon answers for us. "He was on the verge of surrendering, let's wait for him to wake up."

I do have to add one thing…

"And…" I glance over at Kurapika, who _still _isn't looking at us. "I mean, forcing someone to kill, when they already refused…just…" I rub the back of my neck, very, _very_, out of my depth.

Saber nods. "Yah, that's just…wrong…really wrong."

Tonpa doesn't say anything, he honestly didn't seem to care much. Heartless jerk.

Leorio frowns. "But we don't know how long it will take for him to wake up. I should just…" He glances over at the ring.

"You shouldn't force others to do things." Tonpa suddenly interjects. He sounded very smug. "Different people have different circumstances and ideals."

"No one asked your opinion." Leorio counters.

"Hey…" Tonpa spreads his hands out. "A majority ruling implies that you're asking everyone's opinion."

Leorio clenches his hands into fists. "Damn it! Fine! Do whatever you want…" He puts his hands in his pockets and slinks into the little hallway, dropping to the ground in front of the bars, his back facing us.

"Leorio…" Gon mutters.

"Man, what's wrong with these people?" He grumbles.

"Now he's sulking." Gon observes.

"None of these matters if we can't even progress." Leorio continues. "Don't you people get it?"

His sulking voice reminded me of a mafia person or something.

"Just leave him alone." Killua advises.

"I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole…" Saber mutters.

Killua goes to edge and sits down, his feet hanging off, and Gon starts stretching. Saber nervously looks around, and then sighs, leaning against a wall he starts tinkering.

Tonpa just stands there, smirking, as he stares at Leorio.

"What's your problem?" I mutter, crossing my arms.

He shrugs. "Nothing." And turns away.

My eyes narrow but I don't say anything else.

A couple hours go bye. Tonpa sits across the wall from Kurapika, Leorio is lying down arms behind his head, still looking away from us, Kurapika still hasn't said anything or looked at anyone. Killua is leaning against the wall next to Kurapika, looking like he might be falling asleep; I'm sitting down near the edge drawing, next to Gon who is staring intently at Big Blue. Saber was having an awkward time, as he didn't want to be really near the stressed out Leorio, but didn't want to be near the edge either. So he settled for sitting behind Gon and me, close to the little hallway.

Hardly anyone had said anything. Do you realize how _awkward_ this was?!

Saber and I had actually tried to get something going before…

**oOoO**___Flash back_ An Hour Ago **oOoO**

Saber and I whisper furiously.

"No one's _saying_ anything!" I comlplain, nervously eyeing the others.

Saber nods. "Yah. I've realized. We have to do _something_ or I'm going to suffocate under this heavy atmosphere!"

We both glance over at Kurapika and Leorio, then look at each other. We nod.

I walk over to Kurapika, while Saber goes to Leorio.

I look down at Kurapika, he doesn't open his eyes, or look up, even though I'm pretty sure he knows I was there.

I glance over at Saber, who seems to be taking a deep breath.

I turn back to Kurapika. "Um…"

Shit. Where was I going with this again?

"Are…you…okay?"

Brilliant going Talin. Seriously. Nice job, perfect. _GOD_ I'm going to throw myself over the ledge!

"I'm fine." He replies, camly. Still not opening his eyes.

Well ok then.

I glance helplessly at Saber, who's having his own troubles.

"Um, hi Leorio…"

"Eh, what do you want?" He opens one eye and glares at Saber.

"Er…" Saber rubs the back of his neck. "Just seeing how you were doing…"

"We're stuck on the Second Phase, for who knows how long, and all our chances for become Hunters may have been ruined by a certain idiot, and his friends. How do you think I'm doing?"

I glance at Kurapika, who doesn't say anything, but I think he frowns a bit more.

"Uh, not very…good." Saber mutters, regretting this whole conversation very much.

"You got that right." Leorio grouches, rolling over on his side away from Leorio.

Saber and I glance at each other, and shrug helplessly.

Tonpa snickers.

**oOo End Flashback oOo**


	11. The Doctor is in

Yah so, that hadn't gone well. Ugh. I don't do awkward situation well, at all! I keep fidgeting, now able to concentrate well on my drawing. It was basically just a bunch of doodles, actually. I kept glancing at my watch, as our precious time kept slipping away…

AAAAGHHHH!

Killua walks up to Gon, and they start talking.

"Is something wrong, Gon?"

Gon nods. "Uh, huh." He points.

Killua looks over at Big Blue, and his eyes widen. "I get it…"

Saber and glance at each other confused.

"Uh…am I missing something?" I ask.

Killua walks past us, ignoring me. And to my surprise,(and horror) he walks up to Leorio.

"Hey…It's quite possible that he's already dead." Killua stats bluntly.

"Huh?!" Saber gets up and so do I.

I walk as close to edge as I dare, Saber a few steps behind me. I squint my eyes at Big blue but it doesn't make a difference, he looks the same that he did an hour ago.

"What's that?" Leorio also gets up.

Kurapika opens his eyes and turns to look, even Tonpa looks interested.

"Well it's been several hours, and he hasn't moved a inch." Gon remarks

"Shoot, that's true…" I mutter, as Leorio runs over next to me. Soon everyone is crowded next to the edge, trying to get a better view.

"Damn…it's too far away for us to tell." Leorio observes.

He starts to yell to the other side. "Hey! We want to check his body!"

"What's that?" The same female voice from before asks.

"He could already be dead." Leorio replies.

"I already told you, he's only unconscious." She stats.

I cross my arms, getting annoyed. I was starting to understand what they were doing…

"How many hours has it been? I can't just take your word for it!" Leorio yells.

"Then let's make a bet." She offers.

"A bet? On what?"

"On whether he's dead or alive." She coos.

For some reason this chick really irked me.

"What would we wager?" Leorio asks.

"Time."

"Time?" Leorio echoes.

"We can do that?!" Saber gasps.

"Ya know, they should really give us a instruction manual or something…"I complain.

"We will settle our match through a betting game, or gamble." She explains. "And we'll use time, rather than chips. Look at the monitor on the wall."

We all look at it, and see that on the screen are two sides, each with fifty hours.

"We each have fifty hours." She continues. "However, we can only wager multiples of ten. We continue placing bets until one of us have no hours left."

"A match where we gamble time…" Leorio mutters.

"We'll take turns deciding what to bet on. If you end up with zero hours, your time limit will also be shortened by fifty hours."

"And if you end up with zero hours?" Leorio asks.

"Our sentences will be extended by fifty years." She replies evenly, not sounding worried in the least. "If these terms are acceptable, I'll check whether he's still alive."

"She's willing to risk extending her own sentence." Leorio mutters.

I was standing between Kurapika and Leorio, Killua in front of me. And Saber was beside Tonpa, behind Gon who was beside Leorio. I glance at Kurapika who is staring intently at Leorio, I suddenly realize the height difference between us. I don't really think I'm short, but I only came to Kurapika's chin, and to Leorio...well he was just really tall so that's not fair. At least I was taller than Gon and Killua, but Saber was a few inches taller than me.

"Consider your answer carefully, Leorio." Kurapika warns. "If you lose, we'll have fifty fewer hours with which to escape the tower."

"You shouldn't talk." Leorio suddenly points at Kurapika, and my eyes widen, as I actually have to move my head a bit to avoid getting poked in the eye. "After all, this is you fault, for not finishing him off!"

Kurapika crosses his arms. "Fine."

Both Leorio and Kurapika cross their arms and looks away from each other, you could cut the tension with a knife.

"I won't say another word!" Kurapika states.

Killua and I glance back and forth at the two, before glancing at each other, and shrugging, exasperated.

"Hey, we shouldn't fight amongst ourselves!" Gon interjects.

"Right!" Leorio cries, pointing at the lady. "I accept!"

"Okay! I chose our first bet, so you can decide how many hours we'll wager on whether he's alive or dead."

Leorio frowns in thought, before making up his mind. "I bet ten hours that he's alive."

Leorio starts to walk forwards, but Kurapika suddenly interrupts. "You're being pretty cautious."

I glance nervously at Kurapika, who is _still _not looking at us. Actually I think his eyes were closed.

Leorio just looks at him, and smirks. "Weren't you going to not say anything else?"

At this Kurapika does glance at him, making an annoyed tsk sound.

I, for one, was really regretting where I was standing. I wonder if anyone would notice If I sort of just crept back into the little hallway area. But then I wouldn't be able to see as well…I sigh and stay in my spot.

Leorio confidently walks to the platform, and crouches. He rolls over Big Blue and inspects him, pressing two fingers on a point in his neck to check for a pulse.

"He's trying to become a doctor right? So he would definitely know the difference between a corpse and a living person…" I mutter mostly to myself.

Gon nods. "Yah, if anyone would know, it's Leorio!"

Kurapika just tsks again. "Anyone can check for a pulse."

I fidget nervously. Ok, true, but still…agh. If those two couldn't get over their…whatever, then this probably wouldn't end well…

The lady suddenly speaks up. "See? He's only unconscious."

"So it seems." Leorio nods.

The screen changes so that one side has 40 hours, and the other has 60.

"All right!" Gon cheers. "Leorio has the lead!"

"This is bad." Killua comments.

"What? Why?" Saber asks, we turn to look at Killua, who has his hands behind his head.

"It's possible he isn't going to wake up." Killua theorizes.

"What do you mean?" Kurapika asks.

"Remember when that women walked near the guy on the floor?" Killua turns to us.

"What of it?" Kurapika asks.

"I thought then that he was already dead. But on second thought, they'd obviously prefer him alive, but remaining unconscious. If he doesn't wake up before the test ends, it shortens their sentence by seventy-two years."

"So if he doesn't wake up…" Gon starts.

"That's my point!" Killua interjects.

"That's been their intention all along." Kurapika looks back at Leorio, who is still inspecting Big blue. He was pulling at his eyelids, observing his eyes. He frowns.

"Crap…" I mutter. This was bad.

"Well, it's your turn." The women says. "Decide what we'll bet on."

"Let's see…" Leorio ponders, before pointing at Big blue. He seemed to really like pointing. "How about we bet on whether he's truly unconscious?"

"Huh?" The lady gasps.

"Nice!" I cheer.

"I see." Killua nods.

The women get's over her surprise quickly. "Very well. I bet twenty hours that he really is unconscious. But how do we confirm whether he's really unconscious?"

"Oh…" Leorio bends down and picks up Big blue's arm, slinging it over his shoulder. "That's simple."

He half lifts, and half drags Big blue over to the edge of the platform, while complaining about him being heavy.

He then holds on to Big blue's shoulder, and tilts the body so if he lets go Big blue would fall of the ledge. "Ill just toss him off the edge."

I gasp, and Saber makes a strange gurgling noise, backing up.

"If he's actually unconscious, he'll fall to his death." Leorio says, completely calm. Wow. Not expecting this.

"Are you insane?" The women asks. "His match hasn't been settled yet. We can't accept those terms."

"Don't worry." Leorio smirks. "If he falls and dies, we'll forfeit the match, which will give you two wins."

"…Woaaahh… Leorio's kind of…cool." I blurt out.

"Never thought I'd hear you say that." Killua smirks.

I blush slightly at scratch the back of my head, beside me Kurapika shifts slightly frowning.

I curiously glance at him, and he avoids my eyes. What was his problem?

"Is that satisfactory?" Leorio asks.

"Yes, is it." The women replies. "But then I'm changing my wager. I bet fourty hours that he isn't unconscious. Everything I have left."

I had to give Big blue credit, if he was just faking it, he was doing pretty good on not moving. If I was in his shoes I would probably have lost it by now.

"Heh, little sneak." Leorio remarks, seemingly not very worried. "Finally showing your true colours."

A few tense seconds pass, before Leorio finally says "Then, I'll let go of him."

And he does, but before Big blue falls off the ledge, he freaks out.

"Whoa, wait!" He cries, eyes snapping open. "I'm awake! I'm awake! Don't let go!"

He starts to fall backwards, I cringe, and Saber scrunches his eyes closed. "I can't watch!"

"Wait! Woah! I'm gonna fall!"

But before that happens, Leorio grabs on to his hand and easily pulls him up. "Good morning."

Big blue falls to the ground, panting. "You people are crazy. I've had enough! I'll take the loss!"

He walks back over to his side, grumbling. "Forgot the sentence reduction! It's safer in prison…"

I elbow Saber, chuckling slightly. "You can open your eyes, he's still alive."

"Heh, heh…" Saber opens them, chuckling sheepishly.

Leorio walks over beside the women.

"You knew that he was awake." She observes.

"I actually inspire to become a doctor. All I had to do was check his eye movements." He smirks.

The screen changes, so that they had 80 hours, and we had 20.

"However, your down to twenty hours." The lady observes.

"But now we have a 2-1 lead." Leorio adds.

"Now…" He points at her (again!) "It's your turn! What do you want to bet on?"

She stays silent, staring at him, thinking.

"Well, are you going to tell me what the next bet will be?" Leorioa asks, sounding smug. "Or have you lost your nerve because I've figured out your scheme?"

Her shackles automatically unbuckle, and fall to the floor.

She giggles. "Very well." She whips off her cloak, revealing the poofiest, pinkest hair ever. Seriusly, she had bright hot pink hair tied into two pig tails with yellow ribbon.

"…Not expecting a prisoner to look like that." I admit.

Saber nods, sweat dropping. "You would think her hair would be more dirty, considering that she sleeps behind bars."

"And what kind of shampoo does she use, to get that volume?" I ask, tilting my head in confusion.

He just looks at me, a dead pan expression on his face, and I shrug. "What? Just wondering…"

Leorio laughs to himself, and I suddenly feel very uncomfortable…

"That old guy's probably dancing on the inside…" Killua mutters.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Kurapika adds.

I nod. "You and me both, Blondie."

"Then let's bet on whether I'm a man or a women." Pinky offers.

"Huh?" Leorio exclaims.

"What's wrong?" Pinky asks. "Is there a problem?"

"N-no." Leorio stutters.

"Well, this is going to be easy. I mean, she's obviously a girl." Saber muses.

"Yah…" I nod, but I was also confused. This way easy. Too easy.

"That's fine," Leorio says, getting his composure back. "But how will you prove if I'm wrong?"

"Oh right…" She pauses before saying the next sentence, smiling coyly. "I'll let you examine every part of my body. Until your fully satisfied."

She giggles at Leorio's surprised, but perverted face.

My face heats up and I groan, putting my face in my hands. Extremely uncomfortable. I wasn't the only one, everyone else didn't seem comfortable either. Who would be?

"Leorio will bet she's a man." Kurapika stats.

"Uh-huh." Killua nods.

"Huh, why?" Gon asks. Poor, poor, innocent Gon.

I look up. "Because he's a pervert."

Saber nods. "That's how it is."

Gon still looks confused. "Huh? What do you mean."

Saber sighs, and I just groan again.

"You'll find out soon enough." Saber pats Gon's head.

"Okay, I've decided." Leorio announces. "I bet ten hours that you're a man!"

"DAMMIT, LEORIO!" I yell, my hands balling into fists. That-!

"I knew it." Kurapika closes his eyes, frowning.

"Dirty old man." Killua grumbles.

"Huh? But how did you know?" Gon asks, still confused.

I glance at Saber, who just shakes his head. "Nope, no way am I explaining."

Thankfully, (or maybe not…) Killua tries to explain it to Gon. It was a little worrying that a kid the same age as Gon knew about this stuff…

"There you have it." Killua finishes.

"I get it now." Gon nods.

I raise an eyebrow. "Really? I highly doubt that…"

"Okay! Reveal the answer!" Leorio hollers.

"Too bad…I'm a women." Pinky smiles.

"R-Really?" Leorio exclaims, way too happy.

"Would you like to check?" Pinky says slyly, tapping a finger on her lip.

Oh. My. God.

"B-B-But of course!" Leorio agrees hastily, as he steps towards her.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Saber panics, turning around quickly.

I grab Killua and Gon, quickly putting a hand over their eyes. I ignore their protests.

"Turn around!" I bark at Kurapika and Tonpa.

"Who are you to order me?" Tonpa grumbles, but turns around.

Kurapika does the same without a word, looking ashamed at Leorio's actions.

"What? What? What's happening?" Gon asks.

Killua tugs at my hand, I highly doubt he really wanted a peak, but probably wansn't comfortable with the sudden contact. Still, I don't let go, they were only 12!

"Leorio! There's children here!" I scream at him, but my eyes are staring at my feet.

He ignores me; he must be in heaven right now. Asshole.

"...Uh, is it over?" Saber asks after a minute.

I glance up, scowling at Leorio's estactic face, then I sigh.

"Yah, you can turn around now." I let go of Gon and Killua.

Gon was still completely confused, while Killua just grumbles something under his breath about personal space.

The screen changes so that the prisoners have 90 hours, and we have 10. Great. Fabulous. If we survived this, I was going to kill Leorio.

Leorio sighs, holding his hand up, a happy smile on his face. By now the others had turned around.

Killua just groans, and Kurapika raises a hand to his forehead.

"He's gonna lose." Tonpa declares.

"Huh?" Gon turns around.

"The opponent has seen through Leorio's strategy." Tonpa observes. "He's been betting conservatively, to minimize damage from either outcome. A gambler who focuses on avoiding a loss won't ever win. I guess Leorio just doesn't have what it takes."

While he was saying all this Leorio was still giggling gleefully. Wow. Creeper, much?

"Now it's your turn to think of a gamble." Pinky states. "What do you want to bet on?"

Leorio glances at the screen, and thankfully snaps out of it when he realizes how bad our situation was.

"Yah, nice going." I call sarcastically, crossing my arms.

Leorio glances over annoyed. Pff, I'm not the one who just _molested_ somebody for personal gain, at the cost of others no less!

"Leorio has no more room for error." Kurapika points out. "If he loses the next wager the overall score will be 2-2. And we will have fifty fewer hours to escape this tower."

Gon makes a worried sound. "Leorio…"

He seems to be muttering to himself, thinking. He mutters something about betting on him being a man or a women, but then nods saying that won't work.

"Hey, hey, old man, you're thinking outloud." Killua drawls.

He looks up, and glances at Kurapika, a small smile creeping over his face. But soon he just frowns again muttering that won't work. Confused I glance at Leorio, then back at Kurapika, who was glaring daggers at him.

"Oh." I say out loud, finally getting Leorio's line of thinking. Actually betting if Kurapika was a guy or a girl could work…

I can't help the snicker that escapes me, and I quickly fake a cough into my fist. Now Kurapika was shooting dagger at _me_. I glance up at him, then quickly down trying very, _very_ hard to hold in my bouts of laughter. And I was failing.

"Leorio!" Gon suddenly calls out. "How about whether or not you're still in your teens?"

That was it. I start cracking up, I collapse on to the ground nearly rolling around with laughter. Saber sends me an amused glance, Kurapika just looks miffed, but I notice the slight smile on his face as he turns away.

"Come on, Gon!" Leorio says angrily. "I don't look that old, I'm clearly a teenager!"

"T-Teenager?!" Pinky repeats, shocked.

Aaaand, there I go again, if I kept laughing this hard I was going to rupture a lung or something.

"Right! In that case, we'll use rock-paper-scissors!" Leorio declares.

I stop laughing.

"YOU IDIIIOOOOT!" I scream.

He ignores me. "A bet on who'll win a game of rock-paper-scissors!"

Pinky giggles. "Sure."

Rock-paper-scissors?" Kurapika repeats. "Why did he have to pick such a difficult wager?"

"Huh?" Gon looks behind him.

"Well, it isn't that hard…" Saber says, on the same wave length as Gon.

"It's hard to win, I think. I mean, it's mostly luck, right?" I shrug, still sitting on the ground.

"Hmm, that would be the case…usually." Kurapika mutters.

"Usually?" I repeat, but my attention is drawn away as I listen to Pinky's words.

"Let's see, then. I'll put eighty hours on my victory."

"E-Eighty hours?" Leorio repeats, shocked. He wasn't the only one.

"Whaaaat?! Is she super lucky or something?!" Saber cries, throwing his hands in the air.

"Is something wrong?" Pinky asks. "I'm free to bed as much as I want."

"W-Well, that's true." Leorio says glumly.

"And if you lose, I can still only take ten from you." Pinky points out. "Don't worry."

Don't worry, my foot.

Leorio pauses, obviously stressed.

"While rock-paper-scissors has simple rules, the game itself is quite complex." Kurapika informs us, all smart like.

"He's going into lecture mode…" I whiper to Saber, who looks at me confused. He'll see.

"If you consider the game from a probability standpoint, there's only a one-third chance of losing. However, if your opponent can predict your reasoning and control your reactions, defeat becomes much more likely."

"Ah. Lecture mode, well named." Saber nods.

"In other words, simple-minded Leorio will be at a disadvantage." Killua adds.

"I see." Gon mutters.

"All right! I've made my decision!" Leorio declares.

The girl smirks, and Leorio pauses again. "What?"

"It's obvious what you'll use." She purrs. "I can read minds."

"Liar!" Leorio points at her. "Your bluffing won't scare me!"

"You'll believe me soon enough." She says confidently.

Leorio looks nervously at his raised fist.

"No way, is she getting to him?" Saber mutters.

"Leorio will use rock." Kurapika theorizes.

I glance over at him, confused. "Huh? How do you know?" I ask as I get to my feet, once again standing up.

"Let's do this!" Pinky yells out. "Rock, paper…scissors!"

They both use rock. Leorio breathes in a sigh of relief.

My head whips around as I stare at Kurapika in horror.

Now he's the one looking at me confused. "What is it?"

"Can _you_ read minds?!" I ask, starting to slowly inch away.

He rolls his eyes. "Nervous people unconsciously avoid any action that involves opening up. In other words, by making Leorio uncomfortable, she ensures that he's less likely to use paper."

"Oh…" I laugh nervously, rubbing the back of my head. "I knew that."

Kurapika raises an eyebrow, while Saber just scoffs. "Suuuure, you did."

"So if she sticks with rock," Killua, thankfully, pulls their attention away from my little moment of stupidity. "She's guaranteed a win, or draw."

Kurapika uncrosses his arms, going into full lecture mode. "As I was explaining, rock-paper-scissors is actually a mind game."

"Now I see." Gon nods.

A mind game? I always just thought it was some fun little thing to pass the time… I made a mental note to never play rock-paper-scissors with Kurapika. Or anyone. Ever.

Leorio stares at his fits. "Hold on…since we both used rock, wasn't that a draw?"

"What of it?" Pinky tilts her head cutely. I could never tilt my head cutely, I only did it when I was super confused or something. And usually it made me look like I had an ache in my neck or something.

It wasn't fair a prisoner like her was so pretty looking, how did she even achieve that freaking hair?! Ugh.

"A-ha!" Leorio exclaims. "So you were lying about being able to read minds."

I facepalm. "Well, no duh!"

Killua glances at me. "Weren't you the one, who just a minute ago, thought that _Kurapika_ could read minds?"

My face heats up. "Ah-that-a…well…" I glance between Kurapika and Killua, before I huff and cross my arms, frowning.

Kurapika smirks. I blink. I didn't even know that guy _could_ smirk. I glance at my crossed arms, and suddenly remember what he had _just_ said about nervous people avoiding actions that cause them to open up. I quickly uncross my arms looking away, my face on fire.

SON OF A-

"If you really could, you'd have won. Right?" Leorio puzzles.

Pinky snickers.

"What's so funny?"

"I deliberately gave you that tie." She proclaims.

"Quit lying!"

"Did you forget? We're trying to stall you here." She reminds him. "If I chose to, I could force an indefinite series of draws…"

Leorio begins to look a bit panicked.

"But that wouldn't be any fun." She sneers. "So I'll end this with the next turn. Well? What will you use next? Think hard. Come on."

She taunts him, and giggles again.

I hear Leorio cursing as he holds his head in his hands.

"Worrying. Fretting. When someone loses confidence, they crave reassurance." Kurapika informs us. "That makes him more likely to either use the same hand, or, in effort to regain his confidence, to use a stronger one than in the previous round."

"Meaning," Killua interjects. "That she wants Leorio to choose either rock or paper."

"Yes." Kurapika nods. "Is she loses paper, she's certain not to lose."

Yep. Never playing this game ever again, not after seeing monsters like this who could totally just control the other person. Creepy.

"Then Leorio just needs to stay a step ahead!" Gon smiles, somehow still staying positive.

"Well, if he could calm down, that might work." Kurapika agrees.

"Leorio!" Gon yells out, to the frantic older teen.

"What is it?"

"Hey, you'll win if you go with scissors next!" Gon says happily.

"What? Scissors?" Leorio repeats.

Pinky giggles.

She was pissing me off; at this rate pink was going to become my least favourite colour.

"Go ahead and try." She offers.

Leorio pauses, thinking. And then abruptly freaks out.

"AHG! Man I have no idea what to think!" He frets, hands pulling at his hair.

"We're doomed…" Saber sweat drops.

"Here we go." Pinky puts out a fist. "Here…comes the…draw!"

She was paper. Leorio was rock.

Well, shit.

I groan, plopping on the ground, my legs splayed on either side of me as my forehead touches the cool ground in defeat. We had just lost 50 hours! Crap!

I can hear Pinky cheering in delight, and I resist the urge to strangle the person closest to me. I don't think Kurapika would appreciate that. He would probably knock me on the head, all while lecturing me on anger management.

"Rock-paper-scissors really is complicated." Gon states, not sounding very disappointed.

"Now the score is 2-2." Killua states.

"Worse yet, we have to give up the fifty hours he lost." Kurapika adds.

I hear footsteps, and then Leorio's voice. "Sorry, I was pretty confident in my rock-paper-scissors ability."

I shoot up, and practically dive behind a startled Kurapika.

Leorio shoots me a confused glance as I cower behind the confused blonde.

"Nope, nope, nope! Stay away! Away!" I hold out a hand, the whole molesting incident still clear in my head. While I highly doubt he would try anything, I still wasn't comfortable being anywhere near him.

Leorio sweatdrops. "I won't do anything…"

"Away!"

"Weren't you calling him 'cool' a couple minutes ago?" Killua casually interjects.

"You did?" Leorio blinks.

I was going to _strangle_ Killua. After strangling Leorio, of course.

"I TAKE IT BACK!" I wail, slumping to the ground. "Cool, my foot! He's a creepy, perverted, selfish…"

"Pretty pathetic showing, then." Tonpa snickers, interrupting my grumbles. He was, referring to Leorio's so called rock-paper-scissors ability.

"What was that?!" Leorio growls, but then sighs. "Well, I can't argue with you on this one."

He slinks over to the wall, but after I send him another glare, he backs up a few more feet. Good.

I sigh, coming out from behind Kurapika. Okay, let's do this.

"I'll go next." I mutter.


	12. Last, but definitely not least

"Huh? You sure?" Saber asks.

I nod. "Yah, if I have to wait any longer I'll go crazy with nerves. Better to get it over with."

I glance back to see Kurapika.

"Be careful." He mutters. "Don't underestimate your opponent."

I blink, surprised. I was a little touched too, to be honest.

I smile. "Thanks for the word of warning, Blondie."

And with that, I start to walk forwards. Ugh, just walking across the stupid bridge was scary. When Saber was going to have to do this, he was probably going to have a heart attack or I make it over to the ring in one piece. It would be pretty embarrassing if I had fallen…

The cloaked person also walks forwards, I couldn't tell very much, but by their stature they were male. They weren't incredibly tall, but were probably taller then Kurapika by a few inches.

I breath in deeply, my heart pounding.

The guy whips off his cloak to reveal…

"NO! NOT ANOTHER CLOWN FREAK!" I blurt out, my eyes widening.

In front of me was, in fact, another guy dressed as a fucking clown. A creepy demented clown, I mean all clowns were creepy and demented, but this one really went for it! He had black straight long hair that fell over his shoulders, and on top of his head was a pointy white hat. He had a white shirt with one black eye painted on the right side of his chest, and a red X on the left side. The pupil in the middle of the eye was red. His pants were black and white striped, and one of his shoes were black, the other white, both pointed in a way that couldn't be comfortable. He had pale skin, both eyes had red paint around them, and he had red paint permanently set in an evil smile on his lips.

He actually look a little confused though. "Another one?" He had a high pitched annoying voice. Wow, this just kept getting better, and better.

I groan, raising my eyes upwards thinking of a certain psychotic clown. I wave a hand, and sigh. "Never mind."

He smiles, a creepy smile that sends a shiver down my spine. I was seriously regretting volunteering.

"I hate clowns…" I grumble.

"Do you want to play a game?" Clown freak asks.

"Huh? A game?" I repeat.

He nods. "Yes, a game."

I falter. "Uh…does it involve knives or some other heinous torture device?"

He laughs, or cackles is a better word for it. It sounded a bit like nails scratching on a chalkboard…ick. I clutch at the strap of my messenger bag nervously.

"No, it does not. It involves…"He smiles. "Hopscotch."

"…Hopscotch?" I can hear the others confused murmurs in the background.

"Um, can you explain it a bit more?" I ask.

He cackles again. "Certainly. It's quite simple really; the platform we are on right now will be turned into a large hopscotch pattern. We will each have a rock, and we can throw the rock up to 5 spaces away. The goal is to reach from one side, to the other first. If the rock is thrown more than five spaces away, you will automatically lose. Also you can only hop around on one foot, and if you place the other foot on the ground you are automatically eliminated. But," He raises up a finger, smiling. "Here's the fun part."

I'm guessing we had a very different definition of what 'fun' was.

"Each time you land on the space where the rock is, you have to answer a riddle. The riddles will be ones that we have made up ourselves for the other person. The riddles have to be 'real' riddles, meaning that the answers have to make sense, and have to be something we could figure out. You have 2 minutes to answer, if you answer the riddle correctly, you may continue. But if you have answered_ two_ riddles wrong, you automatically lose. Your friends can't help you. Simple, right?"

"Hmm…" I think over his explanation, it did sound pretty simple. And hey, riddles weren't the worst thing ever, I mean I wasn't _fantastic_ at them, but I wasn't too bad either. I just hoped I would do okay on the one foot thing, what if I accidently fell? But what other choice did I have, I would probably lose on a one-on-one fight…

"So if we answer one riddle wrong, it's okay?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Yep, but if you answer two riddles wrong in total, you're out!"

I nod, thinking. "And if I make it to the other side before you, I win?"

"Precisely!"

I glance behind me at the others, they were whispering to each other. Saber and I make eye contact and he shrugs. I turn back to Clown freak; guess this was my call to make.

"Alright. I accept."

Clown guy cheers, which was a little odd. "Yay!" He claps his hands, "I love games!"

"…Okay then…" I mutter.

"We're ready!" He calls out in a sing song voice.

"Alright then." I hear the examiners voice say over the intercom. "Prepare yourself."

"Um, okay?" What did he mean, for the riddles?

Suddenly there's a rumbling sound, and I let out a surprised squeak as the platform starts to…grow. Not by too much, but after all the creaking and stuff is done I can see that they added a few more rows of stones to the sides of the platform.

"Um okay, you go there, and I'll go here!" Clown freak points at the two opposite sides of the platform.

"Okaaay…" I walk over to the edge of the platform, which was near where the rest of the guys were.

I shrug at them. "This is weird."

They all nod.

I turn back to Clown freak, "We good to go?"

He was on the left side of his platform, while I was on the left side of mine. The stones were set in a way that they went in rows.

"We will be when…lights!" He suddenly yells.

Nothing happens.

"…Uh…"

Suddenly the cracks in between the row of stones leading vertically in front of me light up. So do the ones in front of him, now the platform had two rows of glowing stones on either side. The stone I was on had the number 1 on it, and the last stone on the other side towards the prisoners had the number 25 on it. Clown freak had a row like mine, except he was across from me on the other side a bit to the right, with his 25th stone on my side.

"Don't throw the stone past 5 spaces, and don't go over the sides either!" Clown freak warns me.

I nod.

"Alright then! Let's go!" And with that said, he throws a stone.

I do the same; I try to aim for something like the fourth or fifth stone. I didn;t want to accidently go out of bounds, but I also wanted to make it across to the other side with as less riddles as possible.

I land on the fourth stone, sweet. Clown freak lands on the fifth. Damn. Eh, one stone difference. Carefully I hop on over to the stone, my arms spread out on either side. I reach down and pick up the stone. Then stand back up, still on one leg. I wobble a bit, but I think I'm okay. Clown freak had also gotten his stone.

"I wanna go first, I wanna go first!" Clown freak yells out childishly.

"Uh, okay."

He cheers again. Ugh.

"Ok so first riddle…" He laughs evilly.

"Let's go!" Killua calls out, annoyed.

"Ehh, shut up!" Clown freak yells back at him.

I sweat drop, while Killua looks like he wants to leap over and stab him.

Clown freak turns back to me. He pauses, and then a giant smile crawls over his face. "What's white, and black…and red all over?"

The screen instantly starts a countdown from two minutes.

"My first riddle even matches my outfit, I should get double points for that!" He yells out, excitedly.

"Hell no!" Killua roars.

"Ssssh!" I hush at them, thinking.

White and black, and red all over…hmm… white and black and red all over…different ideas start to pass through my head; it was a bit tricky thinking though, while keeping my balance. I had to hop around a little bit, but was also careful not to go out of bounds.

Around the 1 minute mark I suddenly realize something, before I had thought maybe he even meant himself, but he wasn't red all over. Then I started thinking of some other things it could be. What was white and black all over? Lots of things, but red too? What was it, a strawberry oreo cake or something? The worst thing was, I was pretty sure I had actually heard this one before! But maybe it was the nerves or something but I just couldn't remember…

Hmmm, white and black and red…red…read! Maybe he meant read, instead of the colour red! In which case…a book! Black for the ink, and white for the paper, And read all over…wait, it's not read all over, because you really only read the inside…in that case…a newspaper!

"A newspaper!" I call out confidently. Now I remember! Man, this was a freaking classic! This was going to be easy!

"Awww, you got it!" Clown freak sighs, looking depressed. But quickly snaps right back, a smile on his face. Maybe he had mood swings or something. That would explain a lot.

"Your turn!"

"Right…"I pause, thinking over my riddle. I had a few rattling in my brain, and I didn't want to mess up.

"Ok how about…it's as light as a feather, but even the strongest person can't hold it. What am I?" I ask.

Clown freak pauses, thinking, then to my surprise he begins to spin, on one foot, mumbling the riddle over and over again under his breath.

Watching him was actually making me a bit dizzy, so I turn away. I canhear the others in the background mumbling, and turn to look at them. Gon and Leorio seemed confused and frustrated, but Kurapika and Killua looked like they already knew. Wow. I knew Saber knew it too, but that was only because Jett had told us this one. The reason I knew some riddles well was because he bought a book of 101 riddles once when we were kids, and wouldn't shut up about it.

Thirty seconds are left as the Crown freak spins, and I start to feel my hopes rising, but…

"Oh, I got it!" He announces, pausing. He points at me. "It's your breath!"

I nod, disappointed. "Yep, you got it."

I can hear Gon in the background going 'Ohhhh, I knew that."

"No you didn't!" Killua scoffs.

"Alright…roll!" Clown freaks yells, rolling his stone. Man, he was in a hurry.

I aim and throw the pebble lightly; it rolls on the eight stone and…yes, hits the ninth. Clown freak only got to the seventh stone, ha!

We hop over to our stones, and grab them, and again I do not fall. (But I do wobble)

"Ladies first." He mocks bow, nearly falling over, too bad he doesn't/

"Okay…" I think to myself…hm…Oh! I had a good one!

I speak slowly, making sure not to forget a line. "He who makes me doesn't want me, he who buys me doesn't need me, and he who uses me doesn't care. What am I?"

"Hmm…" There he goes, spinning.

I was pretty happy with that one, it was a hard one. As he thinks I concentrate on _not_ freaking falling, it was getting tiring staying on one leg, and it was only the second turn! Ugh. I hop a little bit, waving my arms around.

"Oh! I got it!" I can hear Killua say excitedly, after thirty seconds.

"What? What is it? Tell me!" Gon nags.

"Nope! You have to figure it out yourself!"

"Killluuuaaaa!"

"QUIET!"

We all jump at the sudden roar from Clown freak; I nearly fall over.

"I'm _trying _to think!" He shouts angrily.

Good, he was having trouble.

"S-Sorry…" Gon apologizes.

Clown Freak continues to spin, but at around fifty seconds he smiles and stops. "A casket!"

"Damn!" I curse under my breath.

"Well, did I get it?"

I nod, crossing my arms. "Yeah."

"Ohhhh…" Gon trills.

"My turn!" Clown freak shouts. "What goes up and down, but doesn't move?"

I fiddle with my messenger bag as I think, how can something go up and down but not move? Doesn't that mean it _is_ moving?!

I can hear Leorio shouting something about it not being fair, and rigged, but Kurapika hushes him saying it's obvious.

_IT IS?!_ What?! No it's not! Saying that isn't helpful!

The one minute mark goes by, and I was getting stressed. It certainly didn't help that I could feel Kurapika's stare on my back freaking drilling holes. UGH. It doesn't make sense! How can something go up and down and not move?!

Kurapika should be the one doing this. Freaking smart ass.

….Up…down…not moving.

Oh.

OH!

OHHHH!

"A STAIRCASE!" I shout happily.

"Bingo!" Clown freak nods.

"Yah! Nice Talin!" Saber cheers.

I wave happily. Though it wasn't like it was over, but man that one really stumped me for a bit.

I lean forwards and roll the stone, getting to the twelfth block. Clown freak gets the eleventh stone. We hop on over and get our stones.

"I go now!" He cackles. "I have a good one…"

Uh oh.

He talks in a sing song voice. "In marble walls as white as milk, lines with skin as soft as silk, within a fountain crystal clear, a golden apple does appear, no doors are there to this stronghold, yet thieves break in and steal the gold. What am I?"

…Shit.

"Uh…" I bite my lip, thinking.

Crap, I don't know. I'm not coming up with anything; actually I think I'm forgetting a few lines.

"Can you repeat it?" I ask.

"Nope!" He replies with a smile.

…Asshole.

There were only thirty seconds left, I had no idea what it was! I glance behind me, all the guys seemed to be having trouble. Killua was rolling on the floor clutching his head, Gon literally had smoke pouring out of his ears, his brain fried. Leorio was pacing nervously, Saber looked like he had just given up, Tonpa…didn't care, and Kurapika was muttering to himself, looking at the floor in thought.

Real helpful.

Twenty seconds left.

The only golden apple I knew was from those Greek myths, something about an apple of jealousy or something? But the rest of the lines didn't make sense…

**BRING!**

"Times up! You're answer?" Clown freak purrs.

I glance behind me one last time, Kurapika makes eye contact. He knew the answer. He stares at me intently like he could telepathically send me the answer, or something.

"Answer?" Clown freak repeats, getting impatient.

"…Uh…a castle?" I guess.

Kurapika hangs his head low in defeat.

WELL _ESCUSE_ ME!

"WRONG!" Clown freak cheers.

"Crap…" I can hear Leorio practically spitting fire in the background, as Killua tries to calm him down.

"Hey, hey, old man…"

"I'M A TEENAGER!"

"What was the answer?" I ask.

He smiles. "An egg!"

…

"AN EGG?!" Practically everyone yells. Except Kurapika.

"Yes an egg." Kurapiks starts, oh shit, he was going into lecture mode! "Because the line 'it's marbe walls as white as milk' refer to the shell, 'lines with skin as soft as silk' is the white substance that is on the inside of the shell, 'within a fountain crystal clear' is the transparent egg whites inside, 'a golden apple does appear' is the yellow yolk, and 'no doors are there to this stronghold, yet thieves break in and steal the gold' is referring to when people break the eggs to eat them."

"…HOW WAS ANY NORMAL PERSON SUPPOSED TO GET THAT IN 2 MINUTES?!" Leorio roars.

"Geez, Kurapika." Saber says astonished. "You're good."

"You just had to be calm and think rationally." Kurapika shrugs.

"Oh well, I'm glad you found it so easy." I mutter, my voice dropping with sarcasm. Okay, so on my hit list were Leorio, Killua, and then Kurapika. Great.

"You lost, and if you get one more riddle wrong…I WIN!" Clown freak claps, wobbling around on one foot.

I sigh. "Yeah, yeah, my turn." I pause, getting my thoughts together. I also had a long riddle.

"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life, kills laughter. What am I?"

"…I don't like that!" Clown freak complains.

"What? Well…too bad!" I shout back.

"It's depressing!"

"I don't care! Answer it! Or better yet, don't!"

He grumbles at me, as he spins around. Ha, let's see him get this one!

Fourty seconds pass, I look back. I think Killua had gotten it, and Saber, and _of course_ Kurapika. I'm not sure Gon was even trying anymore, he was just kind of lying on the floor holding his head, complaining it hurt. Leorio was pacing up a storm, muttering angrily.

"Ooh that's a good one…" He grumbles, glancing at me. "But it _is _depressing! Couldn't you have picked something a little…happier? It's so dar-"

My eyes widen, and Killua launches himself at Leorio, tackling him. He has one leg over his shoulder as he struggles to clamp a hand over his mouth.

"WH-MP! WHAT?!" Leorio yells, trying to rip Killua off him.

"Idiot!" Kurapika hisses, face palming.

I whip my head around to look at Clown freak, maybe he didn't hear…shit, he had stopped spinning.

"Thanks!" He calls out to a confused Leorio, and a pissed of Killua. "The answer is darkness!"

I groan to myself. No, I had almost got him!

I can hear yelling as Killua tries to strangle Leorio.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Leorio cries. "That was a mistake! And didn't you say that you guys couldn't get help? Technically I helped you!"

"Hey! That's true!" I shout, maybe I had a chance!

"Nope!" Clown freak smiles.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'NOPE'?!" Killua and Leorio roar.

"I _mean_," Clown freak says sullenly, not happy at being yelled at. "That _you're the_ one who helped me. You're _her_ friends, not mine! I said that _friends_ couldn't help! I never said anything about enemies!"

"Seriously?" I growl.

"Wh-wh-wha…did he?! Ugh I can't remember! But that's bullshit!" Saber complains.

"Hey, I stated the rules perfectly! It's not my fault I found a loophole, and nowtmy fault _your_ friend gave away the answer!" Clown freak defends himself.

I turn and glare at Leorio, who sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "Sorry…"

"Let's roll!" Clown Freak exclaims.

Here we go again.

I get the sixteenth block; clown freak also gets the sixteenth block. We pass by each other, and he gives me a happy little wave.

"Alright, I'll go now." I mutter, I had a good one. I needed to make him lose a riddle so we would have an even score.

"Alright." I repeat. "You have a house. It has four walls in a square, all the walls face South. A bear walks by, what colour is the bear?"

I smile at his bewildered expression. Yes! When I heard this one the first time, I had no idea either.

"Huh? What? Colour of the bear?" I can hear Gon repeat, confused.

A minute passes. I smirk, as Clown Freak spins faster and faster, somehow not losing his balance. He mutters angrily to himself.

The clock hits 0. Yes!

"I don't know!" He whines throwing his hands up in the air.

"Yay!" Gon cheers. "Good job, Talin! What's the answer?"

"The bear is white, it was a polar bear!" I explain. "The only place you can have a house where all sides would face South, is if you were at the North pole, so a bear walking by would be a polar bear!"

"OHH!" Leorio cheers. "Good one!"

Kurapika smiles and nods. "It was tricky."

"You got it after, like, fifty seconds or something though…" Saber grumbles, eyeing him.

HE DID?! Geez!

"That's not fair!" Clown freak whines.

I glare at him. "It so is! You lost! Give me a riddle."

He sighs angrily.. "Fine! Hmm…ooh, what about…what grows longer as it gets shorter?"

…Say what? What does _that_ mean? How can something grow longer, as it get's shorter? How does that even make sense?!

I fiddle with my bag, thinking, as the seconds count down. Grows longer as it get's shorter…grows longer as it get's shorter…oh!

"LIFE!" I yell out, forty seconds had gone by.

"Awww, you got it." Clown freak nods sadly.

I was pretty happy, I was doing well. I mean, yah, I lost at that really hard stupid egg one, but now we both had lost one. If I could just stump him one more time…

We roll, I land on the twentieth square, he gets on the twenty first block. Damn, I really needed to land the next roll on the 25 block.

"You go, I need to think of a riddle." He says, and I nod.

"Okay…" I try to remember a few that Jett had told me… I quickly pick one that I think is good enough. "I don't have flesh, feathers, scales, or bone, but I do have a finger and a thumb, what am I?"

He starts to spin again, I thought it was a pretty good one, but he figures it out far too quickly. Only thirty seconds pass before he stops.

"A glove!"

Crap.

"Yay! This is fun! Your turn!"

This was bad, he was closer to the finish. I was going to have to answer this riddle right, and then land the next stone right on the finish line to beat him.

"Be careful Talin! Don't lose!" Leorio yells out.

"I know!" I shoot back, annoyed. Of course I knew that, geez!

Clown freak says his riddle in a sing song voice, once again. "You get many of me, but never enough. After the last one, your life soon will snuff. You may have one of me but one day a year, when the last one is gone, your life disappears. What am I?"

I think it over, it was a long riddle. And I knew he wouldn't repeat it, so I quickly go over the lines in my head trying to memorize them. After the last one, I die? What is that? Poison? Nah… one day a year? What would that be… one day a year…never enough…one day ayear…last one is gone…what about…a birthday? Would that be it?

Only forty five seconds had gone by, I really didn't want to mess this one up, but birthday seemed like the answer. I raise my head, about to shout out my answer when…

**CRACK!**

"OW!" I raise a hand to my forehead, stumbling. My other foot hits the ground.

"YOU HAVE BOTH FEET ON THE FLOOR!" Clown freak shrieks, pointing at me. "YOU ARE ELIMINATED! I WIN! HA!"

I was really confused, what just happened? I stand there, dazed, rubbing my forehead.

"WHAT?! NO! YOU THREW YOUR ROCK AT HER FACE!" Leorio shouts.

I turn to the others, who were all angrily yelling at Clown freak. Oh.

"That's not fair!" I turn on him. "I even knew the answer, a birthday!"

He sticks his tongue out at me. "Too bad, it is fair! I never said we couldn't try to get the other person to put the other foot down! I just said if you did, you would be eliminated! Loop hole!"

"Are you kidding me?!" I hiss, fists clenched. "That isn't a loophole! It's just-just…"

"BULLSHIT!" Saber screams, Killua and Leorio right along with him.

Even Kurapika looked pissed, he had his arms crossed and an angry frown on his face.

"That's not fair!" Gon echoes.

"Yes it is! Yes it is!" Clown freak yells back, hopping up and down. "I win, you lose! Boo hoo hoo!"

"It's true, his little trick was not against the rules stated. You have to be clever to win these things, think outside the box. That's the whole point of riddles. You have lost." Lippo announces over the intercom.

"What?!" Leorio growls.

I sigh angrily, and march across to the bridge, which slides into place. I storm towards the others, so annoyed I don't even feel freaked over the height. I can hear Clown Freak cheering behind me, and it takes all my will power not to turn around and rush at him, fists raised.

When I reach the platform I can hear the ring removing the extra rows of stones, by the tell tale creaking noises. I don't look, I just walk up the little hallway area and angrily lean against a wall.

"That sucks, but you did good." Saber tries to console me.

"Yah, those riddles were hard!" Gon nods.

"While his actions may not have been against the rules, such underhanded mean of a victory are dishonorable." Kurapika walks over to me, arms crossed. "How's your forehead?"

I shrug, rubbing it. "They'll be a bruise, but I'm fine. I guess."

Saber starts to stretch a little. "Alright, well now how about I try to get a little pay back? It's my turn!"

"Good luck." I nod at him, and he gives me a thumbs up.

"Don't need it, I got this!"

He acted pretty confidently, probably trying to make me feel better I guess, but I still noticed how his face paled as he crossed the bridge. And how he kept his eyes straight forwards, trying not to look down.

He breathes out a sigh of relief when he makes it to the ring, and gives us a thumbs up again. Then he turns to the prisoners. "Alright, who wants some of this?!"

"I'll take you on." A gruff voice says, and stepping out of the darkness a prisoner comes forwards, his shackles falling to the floor.

He was most certainly a man by his voice, and he had a strong build. He steps up confidently in front of Saber, and takes off his cloak. He was a man, with messy, brown hair in tendrils down his back, and he had a large mouth and sharp teeth. He seemed…different then the other prisoners. More feral for some strange reason.

Another odd thing was that his eyes were whitish grey, almost like he was…

"Wait, are you blind?" Saber bluntly asks.

The man laughs. "Blind as a bat, but my hearing is just as good."

"What…?" I stand up, taking a step forwards in interest.

"Don't underestimate me, boy, I don't need eyesight to kill you." The man threatens.

"So, we're doing the whole fight thing?" Saber asks, now a little nervous.

He nods. "Until one of us dies, or surrenders."

Saber nods slowly, hopping a little on each foot, getting ready. "Alright…"

"Careful Saber." I call out uselessly, I know Saber could usually handle himself pretty well but…

The prisoner doesn't give him a chance to respond, he let's out a growl and leaps at Saber.

"Whoa!" Saber jump to the right, and the prisoner lands on all fours. He was like some sort of animal.

It leaps at him again and this time Saber ducks, jumping under the opponent's feat. He rolls and quickly gets up, eyes wide.

But this time he doesn't let the prisoner get another chance to attack, Saber runs at him, and leaps into the air. His foot sails towards the prisoners face, but he easily catches it in his hairy hands.

"Uh oh." Saber murmurs. That's all he can say before the prisoner swings him down on to the platform.

I wince at the crack sound, my hands clamping over my mouth.

"This isn't good…" Leorio mutters.

"His opponent is not in this for an easy win, if he was he would have just thrown him over the side. No, he's taking his time." Kurapika observes, frowning.

The prisoner jumps at Saber, who looks up in terror, and quickly scrambles up, just nearly dodging the strike.

"Saber!" Gon yells out. "Try to make less noise!"

Killua nods. "His hearing is his advantage, use that against him!"

Saber looks at us, face scrunched in pain, but he nods. He tries to quietly walk around, but the prisoner just grins.

"My hearing is far too good, boy. I can hear your every breath from this distance. You're mine!" He roars and jumps at Saber again. Saber jumps in the air over his body, kicking him in the back and jumping forwards.

"SHIIIIIT!" He shrieks running around in a circle as the prisoner chases him. If this weren't a life or death situation, I would have been laughing my ass off.

Suddenly Saber looks down at his belt, and smiles. While still running he starts grabbing some parts from his belt, and using a screwdriver and some other tools starts to put something together…

"Are you kidding me?!" I finally got my voice back. "Saber this isn't the time!"

The prisoner pauses, his head tilted as he listens to the tiny tinkering noises. "Whatever toy your making boy, it can't help you!"

He runs at Saber, actually swiping at him with his paw.

"Geez, geez, give me a sec, will ya?!" Saber cries, ducking. He drops a piece of metal and it rolls away.

"Shit!" Saber dives for the thing, his opponent right behind him. Saber successfully grabs the metal, but by now the prisoner was on top of him!

"To taste flesh again…" The prisoner mutters evilly, pining Saber to the ground by his shoulders, who was STILL making something, now frantic.

"SABER!" I scream.

"No! Say you surrender, idiot!" Leorio yells.

Instead Saber looks up at the prisoner. "Uh-wow your, um, hearing is really good!"

The prisoner pauses, confused. "Compliments can't save you, boy."

"Yah I know." He nods, smiling shakily. "Just saying." And with that last word he stops tinkering, with a final click.

"He was buying time." Kurapika mutters.

"F-For what?" I ask incredulously, what the hell did he make?!

"By the way, the name isn't boy, IT'S SABER!" Saber yells, raising his creation, which was a small cylinder looking thing, next to the prisoners ear. Saber clicks a button and…

"AAAAAGHHHHH!"

We all jump at the sudden roar of pain from the prisoner, who leaps off Saber, and was now rolling on the ground clutching his ears.

Saber quickly get's to his feet, smiling. "HA!"

"Huh? I don't hear anything!" Gon cries.

"It's a dog whistle!" Kurapika exclaims.

"Wh-oh, AWESOME! Yah Saber!" I cheer, finally realizing what he had done. Of course _we _couldn't hear it, as we had normal hearing, but to a person with such extremely good hearing like the prisoner, the dog whistle must have been torture!

"It's not _just_ a dog whistle." Saber explains proudly. "I made it a few pitches higher than a dog whistle, just in case." He turns to the prisoner. "Ready to give up?"

The prisoner snarls, still rolling around, but after a couple seconds he nods, shaking. "Y-Yes, enough. I surrender, turn the damn thing off before my ears bleed!"


End file.
